Legend of the Portal Masters
by JumperCable2
Summary: Part 2 of my Skylanders remake trilogy. I'm adding some storyline to the new game, Skylanders. Summary inside. Now rated T. On Hiatus
1. Cast and Prologue

**When Kaos destroyed the Core of Light, he destroyed the only source of power that kept the darkness from covering Skylands. But before he struck, Portal Master Eon cast a spell that sent his Skylanders and eight amulets known as the Skygems to a safer planet than Skylands. As the Skylanders traveled to Earth, they started shrinking and then froze like statues. Each of these Skygems pulled four Skylanders towards it according to their elements. Now, each of these Skygems has landed in the hands of a different future portal master on Earth. Each one of them has the dormant power of a Skylands element. Can they awaken their powers in time to rebuild the Core of Light, stop Kaos, and save Skylands?**

Here's the cast and prologue of my version of the new Spyro game, Skylanders. I love the game, but the storyline kinda sucked. The designers probably tried too hard to make the players feel like part of the story. Anyway, this story is actually part 2 of a Skylanders trilogy. Part 1 will be an attempt to bridge the gap between Skylanders and Dawn of the Dragon. I may have to wait until I get more Skylanders figures and the other adventure packs before I finish or possibly even start it. Part three will be either a rewrite of the 3DS version, a crossover with Jackie Chan Adventures, or both.

For now, I'll post a description of my portal master OCs. I'm still trying to decide on theme songs for them. If you guys have any ideas, please let me know. I'm very open to suggestions. They have their own weapons because I plan on putting them in the fights when their Skylanders need rest. Oh. And if you've read my story, "Power Rangers Gormiti," you'll probably recognize my portal masters for fire, water, air, earth, and life.

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><p><strong>Max<strong>

Element; Magic

Weapon; Staff

Skygem; Amethyst Star

Skylanders; Spyro, Double Trouble, Voodood, Wrecking Ball

Description; After growing up in Las Vegas and being raised by one of the world's greatest magicians, Jackie King, Max has been eating, breathing, and sleeping magic all his life. One problem. He completely sucks at it. But when he meets a small, frozen dragon named Spyro, he discovers the reason he couldn't do magic tricks was because his skill wasn't in fake magic, but in the real thing. Just as magic is the united force of all eight elements, Max tries to learn from the others as well as lead them in their battles against Kaos.

**Tess**

Element; Tech

Weapon; Twin machine guns

Skygem; Topaz Cog

Skylanders; Boomer, Drill Sergeant, Drobot, Trigger Happy

Description; Tess isn't like most girls from California. She's really into computers, cars, video games, and anything else to do with technology. With her technical skills, she could be the smartest member of the team. With her powers over technology, the Skylanders and Portal Masters always have a ride.

**Marissa**

Element; Water

Weapon; Trident

Skygem; Sapphire Drop

Skylanders; Gill Grunt, Slam Bam, Wham-Shell, Zap

Description; Marissa has pretty much lived her life in the water. She loves to surf and swim more than anything. She loves the sea so much, some of the less rational people around Florida actually thought she might be a mermaid. And just like water gets everywhere, Marissa isn't exactly known for staying out of other people's business, especially their love lives.

**Ry**

Element; Fire

Weapon; Sword

Skygem; Ruby Flame

Skylanders; Eruptor, Flameslinger, Ignitor, Sunburn;

Description; Ry's a bit of a hot-head. Despite people's attempts to calm him down, he never walks away from a fight. Instead, he charges right into it. He's fast to get into a fight, but even faster on the road. He's the best street racer both because he's the first to cross the finish line and the first to escape the cops. But now, since he's the portal master of fire, instead of burning rubber, he's burning Kaos's minions. Not only can he turn up the heat, but he can take as much heat as the sun.

**Rocky**

Element; Earth

Weapon; Rock fists with crystal spikes

Skygem; Garnet Mountain

Skylanders; Bash, Dino-Rang, Prism Break, Terrafin

Description; Rocky's not the most serious member of the Skylanders. Some of his decisions seem crazy, not thought through, or straight up insane, but no matter how many people call him crazy, he stands as firm in his decisions as a mountain is firm in the ground. He may be the joker in this deck of cards, but he's as strong as they come.

**Woody**

Element; Life

Weapon; Vine whip with silver thorns

Skygem; Emerald Leaf

Skylanders; Camo, Stealth Elf, Stump Smash, Zook

Description; Woody's definitely a country boy version of Tarzan. While growing up in the south, he learned about hunting, fishing, camping, basically wilderness survival in general. At the farm he grew up on, the fruits and vegetables he tried to grow actually grew faster than anyone else's, even his parents'. He has had the power of the forest his whole life, whether he knew about it or not.

**Dana**

Element; Undead

Weapon; Scythe

Skygem; Onyx Skull

Skylanders; Chop Chop, Cynder, Ghost Roaster, Hex

Description; Dana is not really a load of sunshine. She's kind of a goth chick who usually hangs out in the graveyard. Luckily, she's not gothic enough to wear black make-up or dye her hair. But still, her powers over the undead make her the darkest member of the Portal Masters. So far, Max is the only member of the Portal Masters that is sure she can be trusted, probably because his Skylander, Spyro, is really close friends, or closer, with Dana's Skylander, Cynder, and Max trusts Spyro's judgment.

**Skyler**

Element; Air

Weapon; Bow and Arrow that can be split into two short swords

Skygem; Diamond Cloud

Skylanders; Lightning Rod, Sonic Boom, Warnado, Whirlwind

Description; Skyler grew up on the road, never staying in the same place for too long. Her mom used to be a pop star, so she met stars all the time as a kid. She can even get into the biggest Hollywood parties because of her connections. She's always been reaching for the stars, following her dreams. But now, since she's the portal master of air, the sky's no longer the limit. It's her stage.

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><p><strong>I may give Kaos an apprentice. What do you think? Should I? If yes, I have a bad guy OC. Again, I need suggestions for the portal masters' theme songs. I've asked DJ Scales if he has any suggestions, but he keeps suggesting theme songs from Sonic the Hedgehog games. I know nothing about those games. <strong>

**I'm using the Spyro and Cynder from the Legend of Spyro series. They're way cooler than their Skylanders versions.**

**Now, here's the prologue for my new Skylanders story.**

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><p>"Something's wrong." said Eon. He was a very old man with a beard like Santa Claus. He was wearing a crystal Viking helmet, a wizard's robe, and a sash with eight symbols across it. He was also holding a golden staff with a crystal ball at the top. Though it was a peaceful day with perfect weather, Eon could not shake the feeling something was amiss. He was standing on the balcony of his temple overlooking a green dome that was shooting a beam of light into the sky. But that was not the most amazing part. The entire temple grounds were floating on an island above the clouds.<p>

"I don't see anything wrong Master Eon." said a voice behind him. Eon turned around. It was Spyro, one of his most trusted Skylanders. He was a purple dragon with orange wings, horns, and a spike at the end of his tail. He was a rare breed of dragons that harnessed the power of several elemental forces.

"Don't be fooled by tranquil scenery Spyro. I am growing weaker with age and I am also the last of the portal masters. I know where the next eight portal masters are, but if I send them the Skygems now, I will lose all my strength. I can't safely send the Skygems until I have gathered enough power."

"I see your point, but we can't wait too long to send them the Skygems. We should find a suitable source of energy soon."

"If we can't, I fear the darkness will grow stronger." Just then, there was a clap of thunder.

"What was that? There isn't a cloud in the sky?" said Spyro.

"Guys, there's some kind of dark power coming." said a female voice from inside Eon's temple. It was Cynder, a black dragon with a strange beetle-like mark on her head. She had six horns that pointed behind her head, a spiked collar around her neck and spiked bracelets on her wrists. Her wings and tail were tipped with metal-looking claws.

"How can you tell?" said Spyro.

"I've felt the darkness before. I can sense it pretty easily."

Just then, another clap of thunder roared through the sky, but this time, dark clouds started forming just above Eon's temple.

"The Darkness!" said Spyro.

"Don't worry. This close to the Core of Light, the Darkness is weakened." said Eon.

"I wouldn't be so sure Eon!" said a menacing voice from the Darkness. Eon, Spyro, and Cynder all looked towards it and saw an evil-looking floating castle and an eerie blue light forming in the cloud. It started as a wavy glow, but then it formed the sinister image of a bald sorcerer with strange tattoos, including a strange symbol on his forehead.

"Kaos!" said Eon.

"Yes. It is I, KAOS, Portal Master of The Darkness!" said the evil sorcerer.

"What happened to you? You look ridiculous." said Eon. His other Skylanders heard the commotion and came outside to see it.

"What?! Do you not see my floating big head?" inside, Kaos was just a midget standing on the side of a huge stone well with a portal in it. "Fear my big floating head! FEAR IT!"

Back outside, Eon and his Skylanders were still not looking afraid. "How did you come back here? I banished you to the Outlands years ago."

"That was your greatest mistake old man. You forget that the Outlands are not only where evil portal masters were banished, but it's also where weapons of dark magic were once hidden. Have you forgotten that I was once a portal master of the light, just like you? I once came across a weapon of unspeakable dark magic, but I stupidly buried it in the Outlands. I was foolish and blind to what I was truly capable of. But soon, I became touched by the Darkness and my eyes were opened. When you banished me here, I remembered where I hid that weapon, so I unearthed it, but it took me years to truly master it. I've been studying the secrets of that weapon all these years, waiting for the day when I would finally take my REVENGE!"

"You began to study forbidden dark magic and went mad with power. You broke the laws of our order."

"You portal masters are pathetic. You are afraid of your true power. If you wish to stay a blind man, allow me to open your eyes. MINIONS!" as he said that, a huge army of Cyclops and green elf-like creatures teleported around the Core of Light.

"Skylanders. Attack!" said Eon. Spyro and Cynder flew off the balcony with three other dragons. One seemed to be wearing a robot suit around his head, wings, and tail. Another strongly resembled a phoenix. The last one had strange unicorn features, including a horn and feathery wings.

Three wingless dragons leapt off the balcony and charge at Kaos's minions. One slightly resembled a blue gecko with a large fin on his head and back. He also had a large pair of horns and seemed to be wearing the chest plate and oxygen tank of a diver suit. Another had rock-like skin with a mace tail and spikes all over him. The last one looked like his skin was taken from plants. He had bright red eyes and legs and small leaves where his wings should've been and large yellow thorns around his head and on his eyebrows.

More Skylanders attacked Kaos's minions and there were all kinds of them, such as a lava golem with flaming fists, a large crab-like warrior with a mace, a wizard with a tiki mask, even a shark with arms and legs that could swim through the ground. They were outnumbered, but not outmatched. Kaos's minions were not very powerful and were easily defeated by Eon's Skylanders.

"Incompetence!" said Kaos. He was getting frustrated with his minions. "Glumshanks!" A troll came in at his command.

"Yes master Kaos?" he said. He didn't look very happy about it.

"How are those Skylanders winning?"

"Well," Glumshanks started looking at a clipboard. "Let's see, carry the one, find the average, According to my calculations," He turned the clipboard toward Kaos to reveal a badly drawn picture of the Skylanders kicking Kaos's butt. "We're losing."

"Grrr. That's it! It is time to show you the true power of my ultimate weapon. Release the KRAKEN!" screamed Kaos's big head. The Skylanders started laughing their heads off for a second.

Glumshanks just slapped his face and said "Note to self. Return Clash of the Titans tomorrow."

"Gah! I mean, Release the HYDRAGON!" said Kaos, as his hands started to burn with black fire.

Outside, a huge shadow was cast over the Skylanders and the Core of Light. Eon suddenly became filled with fear. "Skylanders, return!"

Spyro and the Skylanders were about to attack when they were instantly teleported inside Eon's temple.

"YES! They are retreating! Hydragon! Destroy the Core of Light!" said Kaos.

"Master Eon! Why are we retreating?!" said Spyro as Eon shut the doors of the temple.

"We cannot fight that creature. It is the same monster that destroyed the other portal masters. According to the prophecy, only the eight portal masters of the elements can defeat that monster. We only have a few minutes before Kaos destroys the Core of Light. The time to send you and the Skygems now."

"What?!" said Cynder.

"But Eon! Sending the Skygems now will consume all your strength!" said Spyro.

Eon just stood there hanging his head. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "We don't have a choice. Hugo!"

A mole-like creature with a green jacket and glasses came in. He had a backpack full of books on his back. "Yes master Eon?" he said.

Eon took a scroll from his robe and gave it to Hugo. "Go to the Shattered Islands and await the portal masters."

"But master, sending the Skygems will…"

"I know the cost! But we don't have a choice!"

Just then, they all felt a huge blast of power. "It's the Hydragon! It's attacking the Core of Light!" said Cynder.

Eon ran to a nearby dragon-shaped treasure chest and opened it to reveal eight round crystal amulets set in gold rings. He took the gems out of the chest and stood at the center of a seal on the floor with eight emblems around it, a star, a fire, a leaf, a drop, a cloud, a skull, a gear, and a mountain. "Skylanders, stand on the symbols of your elements."

Each Skylander took his or her place on one of the symbols in the seal. Each emblem then held four Skylanders. Eon used his telekinesis to lift the Skygems out of his hands and each of them floated into the middle of the Skylanders. "Find your new masters quickly Skylanders. The fate of all Skylands now rests in your hands." said Eon.

"We won't fail you Eon." said Spyro. Eon raised his hands to the sky and eight huge pillars of light shot up from the emblems, carrying with them, not only the Skygems and Skylanders, but the fate of Skylands as well. When the pillars disappeared, Eon closed his eyes and fell as the Hydragon's last attack caused an explosion that burst through the doors and swept the temple away.

"What's happening to me?" said Spyro as he and three other Skylanders hurtled through the tunnels of space. He could feel something changing in him. He was shrinking and his joints were becoming stiff. He was becoming a small statue. Before his eyes froze shut, he could see seven other shooting stars racing towards their final destination. Their target came into view just as Spyro and the others became completely frozen. If they could still see Skylands, they would have seen that without the Core of Light, the Darkness was spreading across the surface of their world. They only had one mission now, find the last hope for Skylands and defeat Kaos, no matter what.

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><p><strong>What did you think? I'm trying to add some more drama to the storyline, while still keeping in the funny stuff. I'm gonna introduce each portal master in his or her own chapter as soon as I decide on their theme songs. Again, please leave suggestions.<strong>


	2. Max, Portal Master of Magic

**Chapter 1; Max, Portal Master of Magic**

"3, 2, 1!" said an audience. They were watching a magic show in a huge theater with a bullet-proof screen between them and the stage. The magician was locked in a box that was rigged to explode. The explosion was louder than expected. No magician had ever done a trick like this in a theater, much less in front of an audience. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a tall man with a brown mullet appeared in the middle of the audience. The crowd went crazy at this display of misdirection.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the incredible Jackie King!" said an announcer over a loudspeaker. The magician bowed as his lovely assistant, a smoking hot blonde in a red sparkly dress, came out onto the stage and bowed as well. Backstage, a boy with curly brown hair and glasses, about 18, was cheering his head off. His name was Max, the magician's son. The magician came backstage and hugged his son very tightly.

"Dad that was awesome!" said Max.

"Merlin Award awesome or Magician of the Year awesome?" said Jackie.

"Magician of the Year, five years in a row, hands down awesome!"

"I just hope I can make it six years."

"Oh you will. You're the best there is."

"Thanks. By the way, how's school going?"

"Insanely boring. Especially when you live in Vegas."

"Oh come on. It can't be that bad. Your grades are shooting up aren't they." said the assistant from the show. Her name was Stacey.

"Yeah, that's why it's boring. I get done so fast, there's nothing left to do." said Max.

"I guess I see your point. Don't forget. You have a date with my sister tonight."

"I didn't. She would have come to Dad's show, but she had homework. She said she would get done by the time dad's show ended. I'd better get going. Later."

"Tell her I said hi."

"I will." said Max as he left. On his way out of the theater, he passed five Magician of the Year awards and the coveted Merlin Award, the most prestigious award a magician can win in his entire life. "That's as close as I'll ever get to one of those." he said to himself. Despite his skilled parentage, Max wasn't good at magic at all. Every trick he attempted failed miserably. He once tried to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but it chewed through it. While trying the trick where a magician walks on water, he slipped and fell off the see-through scaffold. When he tried to do a trick where he throws a deck of cards at a window and the chosen card appears on the other side, he actually broke the window. He didn't dwell on this long though, because he had a date.

**Magic by Honor Society**

Max walked up to the theater doors and shoved through them to see the lights of Viva Las Vegas. No matter how many times he saw those lights, they were still beyond impressive. He started walking through the city, taking in all the sights along the way.

_Summer...it turns me upside down  
>Summer, summer, summer<br>It's like a merry-go-round  
>I see you under the midnight<br>All satins and bows  
>High shoes with the cleats a-clickin'<br>A tempermental glow  
>But then you let me go<br>Oh, got a hold on you, got a hold on you, I got a hold on you, tonight  
>Oh, I got a hold on you, got a hold on you, got a hold on you, that's right<em>

_Oh oh it's magic_  
><em>When I'm with you (Oh-o, it's magic)<em>  
><em>Oh oh it's magic, just a little magic (gotta be magic)<em>  
><em>You know it's true<em>  
><em>I got a hold on you<em>

_So twisted...under sideways down_  
><strong>He walked into the apartment he and his dad shared and went to get ready.<strong>_  
>I know you're getting twisted<br>And you can't calm down  
>I see you under the midnight<br>Love darts in your eyes  
>How far can you take it<br>Til you realize  
>There's magic in your eyes<br>_**He grabbed his keys and a denim jacket.**_  
>I got a hold on you, got a hold on you, got a hold on you, tonight<br>I got a hold on you...got a hold on you, I got a hold on you, yeah, oh, yeah, huh_

Oh oh it's magic  
><strong>He got in an elevator and looked out at the city as he went down.<strong>_  
>Oh-oh, When I'm with you (Oh-o, it's magic)<br>Oh oh it's magic (just a little bit...of magic)  
>Pulls me through<br>I got a hold on you (BREAK)  
><em>**He went outside, got on a motorcycle, and took off.  
><strong>I've got a hold on you, I got a hold on you, got a hold on you.. that's right

**He pulled up at someone's front door, knocked on it, and a girl about his age with brown hair came out. They get on his bike and took off.**_  
>It's magic<br>Oh oh it's magic (Oh-o, it's magic)  
>When I'm with you (Oh-o, it's magic) Oh-oh<br>Oh oh it's magic (just a little magic, gotta be magic)  
>Since I'm with you (Oh-o, it's magic)<br>Oh oh it's magic (takes a little bit o' magic)  
>That's true, when I'm with you<br>Oh, oh, it's magic (gotta be magic)  
>Your magic pulls me through<br>Oh-o, it's magic  
><em>**They pulled into the parking lot of a McDonald's, got off the bike, and went inside.**_  
>Oh oh it's magic<em>

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><p>"I can't believe McDonald's is open this late." said the girl. Her name was Amber. They were sitting in a booth with the empty boxes that before held fries, wrappers from their cheeseburgers and empty cups that had their drinks before.<p>

"I know right? So, did you get the homework done?" said Max.

"Barely. I can't understand world history to save my life. Would you mind helping me with it later?"

"I'll let you know when I'm free tomorrow. I really need to sleep late tomorrow. I've had one crazy week. And I'm still looking for a job. It's hard to find the right job when you're living in Vegas."

"Oh yeah, Las Vegas. The only city where you can get married, earn your fortune, lose it all, get a divorce all in one day and still go home with a huge smile on your face. Sounds really hard."

Max sat there and looked like he was thinking about something.

"OK. What's going on?" asked Amber.

"I don't know. It's just that…I've never really felt like I fit in here."

"What are you talking about? You're considered one of the city's best and brightest."

"It's not that. I never gamble, I'm picky with the girls I date, and I can't perform to save my life. Does that sound like someone who lives in Vegas? Almost every business around here is either a casino, a hotel, or a theater, one of which is my dad's. I don't think I have what it takes to work in Vegas."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Don't know yet. This may make me look like a nerd but I've always been interested in magic. Not the kind my dad does, the kind involved in Melrin, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, that kind of stuff. I may start writing fantasy novels."

"You don't look like a nerd. Everyone watches a fantasy movie sometime in their lives. If no one like it, who would make movies like that?"

"I guess so."

"Look. A lot of people doubt that they're where they're supposed to be. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong. But everyone is meant to do something. Especially you. I can just tell that you will do great things. As big a genius as you are, there is no stopping you."

"Thanks. Well, I'd better get you home. I told your parents I'd have you home by midnight."

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><p>Max was on the roof of his dad's apartment later that night. He always came up here when he needed some time to think. Whenever he looked up at the sky, he always saw the same thing, an empty darkness. The lights from below the city obscured the natural lights above known as the stars. Since he lived in Vegas his whole life, Max had never seen the stars before.<p>

"Am I really supposed to be here? I mean…What am I good at that could get me a job in Vegas? And what am I supposed to be doing anyway? Ugh. Why am I talking to myself? It's not like the answer is just gonna fall from the sky." he said. But, as he said that, he noticed a bright light in the sky across from the roof. It was right in front of him. He thought it was a star for a second, but it started getting bigger. Max quickly ducked thinking it would hit him and it rushed over his head and crashed behind him.

Max turned around slowly and examined the smoking hole in the roof. He was careful not to make any sudden moves because for all he knew, it could've been some kind of alien. Amazingly, it didn't break through the roof, it just dented it. As the smoke cleared, Max got an idea of what was in the falling star. In the crater, he saw four little statues; a dragon, a shaman with a tiki mask, an axe-wielding warrior with a dragon's skull on his head, and a strange-looking frog-like creature. There was also something else in the crater. It was some kind of amulet made of a strange reddish-purple stone with a gold ring surrounding the edge. As he touched it, it started glowing bright purple and when the light faded, the amulet was shaped like some kind of eight-pointed star made of amethyst. Max could have sworn that it was still glowing.

"No way. This is so weird." he said. He looked at the amulet in his hand and then back to the little statues. After a minute of looking back and forth, he grabbed the little statues, put the amulet in his pocket, and went inside.

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><p>It was morning and Max had been up all night watching a Merlin marathon on Syfy. He hadn't gotten any sleep so he turned on the TV and saw a marathon of one of his favorite shows. He looked at the amulet on his nightstand and then at the window where he set the statues. They were gone. He was confused. He thought they had just been a dream, but the amulet was still there. He got up and went down to the kitchen. There was a note from his dad that read "Max, didn't want to wake you, but I needed to check something at the theater. Love, Dad." on the fridge.<p>

"Well, I'd better find those statues before he gets home. I don't want him to find them first and wonder where I got them. I can't exactly tell him they fell out of the sky." he said opening the fridge.

"You want me to help?" said someone from behind him. He turned around and freaked out. The statues from last night were on the counter, except they were fully colored and talking.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" he screamed before passing out.

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><p>A few minutes later, he woke up to see a shrunken purple dragon standing over him. It said "Are you OK?" when he was sure Max was awake.<p>

"Augh! Oh No no no no no no no!" said Max as he shot up and started freaking out again. "This is not happening! This is not happening! I taste sour in my mouth!" he said leaning over the counter.

"What's wrong?" said the tiki shaman. His mask was bright red and he was holding a twisted staff with a bright green glowing orb at the top. He had blue skin and was wearing a grass skirt. As girly as that seemed, it's probably pretty common in tribal areas. There was a bone attached to the chin on his mask which had sharp teeth and big green eyes like the orb in the staff.

"What's wrong? Four statuettes disappear in the middle of the night, then show up on the kitchen counter and start talking!"

"Is that an unusual occurence?" said the axe-wielding warrior. The axe was built into a metal pole with a spike at the other end. Underneath his dragon-skull helmet, he had green skin and yellow eyes. He was wearing a full leather suit with pale green gloves, boots, and shoulder guards. His belt secured a leather battle skirt with a buckle shaped like a human skull.

"Oh No! Someone having been in my room is an unusual occurrence. Finding talking statues in the middle of the kitchen borders on the thin line between completely bizarre and beyond freakish! How the heck are you guys talking anyway?"

"What are you talking about? Yeesh. It's like you've never seen magic before." said the frog. He was a strange blue color with tiny legs, yellow spikes down his back, a rooster-like comb on his head, and big green eyes.

"WHAT!" screamed Max. "What the heck are you talking about? There's no such thing as magic!"

"What? How is that possible? Aren't you the portal master of magic?" said the tiki shaman.

"PORTAWHAT! Who the heck are you freaks and what the heck are you doing here?" said Max.

"Guys, we need to introduce ourselves. Forgive me. I forgot that you did not know we were coming. My name is Spyro." said the dragon.

"I am Double Trouble." said the tiki shaman.

"Name's Wrecking Ball." said the frog.

"My name is Voodood." said the warrior. "We were sent by our master Eon to find you Max."

Max's amount of panic lowered to just confusion. "How do you know my name?"

"I told you. We've been sent here to find you. We are champions from a world called the Skylands. We served under the command of a portal master, a sorcerer able to send his Skylanders and magic spells anywhere they wish. Our portal master, Eon, was recently killed by an evil portal master named Kaos trying to send us and the Skygems to you." said Spyro.

"Skygems? What are they?" said Max.

"Well, you've already got the first one. The star-shaped amethyst." said Wrecking Ball.

Max reached into his pocket and took out the gem. He looked back and forth between the gem and the Skylanders. "The Amethyst Star. But wait, where are the others?"

"They were sent to the other seven portal masters. There are eight of you. One for each Skylands element. You are the portal master with the power of magic, the combined force of the other seven." said Double Trouble.

"Magic? Now I know you've got the wrong guy. I can't have magic powers. I can't even do the simplest magic tricks."

"You were never good at fake magic because you were destined to wield the real thing. Isn't that what you're fascinated with? You've always had a love for stories involving magic haven't you?" said Voodood.

Max was speechless. Voodood had just read him like a book. He walked over to the window and just stared out for a few minutes.

"Max, I'm sure this is overwhelming, but we need your help. Kaos has destroyed the Core of Light, the only thing keeping the Darkness from shrouding Skylands." said Spyro.

"Look. I know I can't decide what I was planning to do with my life, but I'm sure it's not this. It just can't be possible. I'm not the guy you were looking for. I'm sorry, but you came all this way for nothing." said Max as he went out the door.

"Max wait!" said Voodood. He started to follow him but Spyro held him back with his tail.

"Give him some time. This must be a lot to process for him. He's found the Amethyst Star, so it won't be long before his powers are revealed." said Spyro.

* * *

><p>"It's just impossible." said Max. He was looking at the video games in a store window, particularly the fantasy games. "How can I be some powerful sorcerer with all the power over magic itself?" he said as he continued to walk down the street. He loved fantasy stories, but living one was too much for him to handle. "There's no way any of that is real." He stopped as another thought crossed his mind. "But what if it is and I'm the only one who can stop it? No. There are seven others. They can handle it. I can't do it." he said as he started walking again.<p>

"Help!" said someone screaming from across the street. He ran towards it without even thinking. It was a window washer hanging over the edge of his scaffold which was only hanging by one rope, which was breaking fast. There was a huge crowd gathering around the whole building. He was at least 10 stories high.

The window washer lost his grip as the rope snapped and dropped the scaffold 10 stories to the ground, but right before he hit, Max, out of instinct, closed his eyes and held up his hand, and all went silent. When he opened his eyes, he just stared at what he saw out of shock. There was a purple glow surrounding everything and his hand seemed to have an even brighter glow like it, but the strangest part was that time seemed to have stopped. Max moved his hand around and saw that the washer moved with it. He looked around for somewhere to set him down and saw two movers carrying a couch. Moving the window washer over the couch, Max closed his hand into a fist as the purple glow disappeared and the scaffold crashed on the ground. Luckily, no one was underneath the scaffold when it crashed. Max had just saved the window washer's life. The crowd looked around everywhere in shock at what just happened. One minute, this guy was falling to his death, and the next, he's across the street totally fine. Worried the press would ask him what happened, Max decided to get out of there before he ended up on the five o'clock news.

* * *

><p>"Max, I'm home." said Jackie as he walked through the door. "Hey, did you see the news today, some window washer almost fell off a building, but appeared onto a couch out of nowhere. It was amazing! So how was your da…" he stopped as he turned around and saw Max levitating a carton of milk from the fridge.<p>

"I know about the guy Dad. I was there. It's a long story." said Max.

* * *

><p>"So let me get this straight." said Jackie. Max and his new Skylanders had just told him the whole story about the day's events. "You've come all the way from some other world looking for my son because he's some kind of all-powerful sorcerer with all the power over magic itself and is the key to some ancient prophecy involving other sorcerers with elemental powers?"<p>

"That pretty much covers it." said Wrecking Ball.

"Sir, I know it seems cruel of us to ask your son to risk his life for our world, but we need his help. Without him, our world will fall into eternal darkness, and knowing Kaos's lust for power, he'll come after your world and others soon afterwards." said Spyro.

"We swear to do everything in our power to protect him." said Voodood.

"And you wanted to tell me that you're going to do this?" Jackie asked Max.

"No. I wanted to know what you thought about it. I don't know if I'm up to it, but I don't think anyone else can do it. I think it has to be me, but I don't know if I'm ready to give up my life here yet. On the other hand, I've been wondering what I've been meant to do for years and I think this could be it. What do you think Dad?" Max answered.

Jackie was silent for a few minutes. then, he walked over to the desk and picked up a picture of him, Max, and a lady with black hair the Skylanders assumed was Max's mom. "Your mother said you were going to do great thing. She'd be proud of you if she could be here…if she could see you now."

"I miss her too. And Dad, you've done a great job since Mom died." said Max.

"Thanks Max. If only that earthquake never happened. I had to choose between the two of you. I just wish I could have saved you both."

"It couldn't have been an easy choice. It's the choice Mom wanted you to make. She screamed at you to save me."

"I know. If she was here, she would know what to do." he was silent for a moment. "You've seen your powers in action. I think you could do this."

"So you think I should go?"

"I didn't say that."

"So you want me to stay?"

"I don't want to lose you like I did your mother. But you have to do what you know is right. I can't tell you what to do this time. It's not my decision to make. It's your's."

Max sat there for a minute. All he could think about today was whether or not he could really stop this evil sorcerer. But now, one decision filled his mind. He knew exactly what to do. It wasn't the decision he wanted to make, it was the decision he knew he needed to make. Sitting up, he looked at his Skylanders and said "I'm in."

* * *

><p>That night, Max packed up his stuff into his bike and was about to say goodbye to his dad.<p>

"Alright, you got everything?" said Jackie.

"Everything I think I'll need. And you've got my alibi right?"

"As far as anyone else knows, you're going to school in England studying literature."

"Thanks." said Max as he hugged his dad goodbye.

"Be careful. You can do this."

"Thanks Dad. I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." said Jackie as he let go.

"Say goodbye to Stacey and Amber for me."

"I will." Jackie waved goodbye as Max started his bike and drove off.

Max looked back at Vegas as he stopped at a red light. "So Spyro, where are these other portal masters?" he said.

"Well, the prophecy says that the Skygems will lead the portal masters together. Just follow the Amethyst Star's directions and we'll find them in no time.

Max got out the star. Only one of the points was glowing. As the red light turned green, Max hit the gas on his bike again and said "Alright guys, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>Finally got this chapter done. I chose Magic by Honor Society for Max's theme song because I thought it had a great Vegas sound. Then I figured out it was about liking a girl, so I decided to make it so that Max had a date that night. I've decided on theme songs for Tess, Marissa, Woody, Rocky, and Dana. I'm trying to decide between two songs for Ry and I've got one in mind for Skyler, but I'm still open to suggestions for that one. <strong>


	3. Tess, Portal Master of Tech

**Chapter 2; Tess, Portal Master of Tech**

**If you noticed that I worked it in so that Max's mom had died when he was a kid when I hadn't put that in the first chapter, I figured out drama that my characters could go through after I submitted the first chapter.**

* * *

><p>"Tess!" said a brown haired girl about the age of 21. He was having trouble with her computer, again.<p>

"What now Lisa?" said Tess as she came downstairs. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a yellow jacket and blue jeans and she was about 18.

"The computer froze up again."

"Tell me you didn't overheat the processor again. Can't you figure out how to use a computer for once? I can't fix everything for you. You're lucky I haven't told Mom and Dad about your little 'joyride' shortly after they gave you a car for your Sweet Sixteen."

"In my defense, that guy was riding my bumper really close. I thought he was going to rear end me."

"Then you should have sped up instead of swerving off the road."

"Hey. You would've done the same thing."

"Whatever. You're just lucky that I fixed it myself before Mom and Dad got back."

"I still can't believe how much you know about this kind of stuff. We haven't needed to call a repair man for anything for years."

"And I never took shop class. Now move. Let me fix it before you make it worse…again." she said moving into the chair.

"You know, you'd think you'd be a lot nicer to me considering I let you move into my apartment when you started college. Without me, you'd either be paying for an apartment all by yourself, or still living with Mom and Dad. And whose tech problems would you rather fix? My computer freezing up or Dad screaming at you to show him how to use the VCR?"

"You're a jerk, but you have a very good point. Fine. I'll fix your computer…again."

"Thanks. And later, can you fix my car…again? I think it needs an oil change but I have no idea how to do that."

"It'll have to wait until tomorrow. I've got that Halo tournament."

"Again? How many of those have you won so far?"

"At least ten, but who's counting?"

"Apparently you are." said Lisa as she left the room.

It only took a few minutes for Tess to fix the computer. All her life, she seemed to have a gift with anything electronic, mechanical, or high-tech in general. Most girls from California were preoccupied with their hair or clothes. But Tess was preoccupied with the new iPod or the newest video game releases. A lot of guys hung out with her, but none of them really appealed to her. And the guys she really wanted to go out with weren't interested in her that much.

"Ok. Try not to break it again. I'll be back tonight. I'm going to that tournament and then to the movies."

"Thanks. See ya. Hey. Good luck." said Lisa, getting back online.

"Thanks, but I won't need it. You've seen me play. I'm unstoppable when it comes to video games."

"Yeah. And I've got the scars to prove it." Tess just laughed at her sister's lame joke and closed the door behind her.

* * *

><p>"Tess. Where've you been?" said one of Tess's friends. He had short, black hair and was wearing a black Halo T-shirt. Tess had just arrived at her school's student lounge at the Halo tournament.<p>

"Sorry about the wait Johnny. Had to help Lisa with a computer problem." she said.

"Again? I swear. She needs to learn to use a computer without screwing it up." said Johnny.

"How? She knows almost nothing about technology."

"That's a good point. So you ready for war?"

"Oh yeah. Just remember the number one rule of Halo."

"Yeah. Don't get shot." said Johnny. He and Tess went over to the dry erase board where the judges had drawn a roster of the players.

Tess and Johnny had just sat down at their seats and were about to go into a death match against two other players, both of whom looked at Tess and were a little surprised.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you a long way from the spa?" the first one said. They both started laughing at her.

"To quote Rihanna, Shut up and Drive." she said back.

**Shut Up And Drive"**

The game started and already she was winning, tearing up every player in her path of destruction.

_I've been looking for a driver who's qualified_

**Round 1 ended so the players were looking at the blackboard for the lineup in the next round. **_  
>So if you think that you're the one step into my ride<br>I'm a fine-tuned supersonic speed machine  
>With a sunroof top and a gangster lean<em>

So if you feel me let me know, know, know

**Tess and Johnny sat down ready to face their next opponents**_  
>Come on now what you waiting for, for, for<br>My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode  
>So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go<em>

Got you where you wanna go if you know what i mean

**Round 2 began and Tess was on a roll. She didn't even get shot once. **_  
>Got a ride that smoother than a limosine<br>Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?  
>If you can baby boy then we can go all night<em>

Cos I'm 0 to 60 in three point five  
>Baby you got the keys-<p>

Now shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

_I got class like a 57 cadillac_

**All the players looked at the blackboard for the roster of round 3. **_  
>Got all the drive but a whole lot of boom in the back<br>You look like you can handle whats under my hood  
>You keep saying that you will boy I wish you would<em>

So if you feel me let me know, know, know

**Tess and Johnny got ready to win the next round. **_  
>Come on now what you waiting for, for, for<br>My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode  
>So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go<em>

Got you where you wanna go if you know what i mean

**During round 3, Tess still couldn't lose. **_  
>Got a ride that smoother than a limosine<br>Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?  
>If you can baby boy then we can go all night<em>

Cos I'm 0 to 60 in three point five  
>Baby you got the keys-<p>

Now shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Cos you play the game, got what I got (Get it Get it)

**Tess and Johnny watched the other matches and waited for the judges to call the final round. **_  
>Don't Stop It's a sure shot<br>Aint no ferrari huh boy I'm sorry  
>I ain't even worried<br>So step inside and ride  
>(ride, ride, ride, ride, ride...)<em>

So if you feel me let me know, know, know

**The judges put Tess and Johnny's final opponents for round 4. **_  
>Come on now what you waiting for, for, for<br>My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode  
>So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go<em>

Got you where you wanna go if you know what i mean

**Tess and Johnny sat down to play the final round of the tournament and started the game. **_  
>Got a ride that smoother than a limosine<br>Can you handle the curves? Can you run all the lights?  
>If you can baby boy then we can go all night<em>

Cos I'm 0 to 60 in three point five  
>Baby you got the keys-<p>

Now shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Now shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

Shut up and drive  
>(drive, drive, drive)<p>

The tournament ended in a huge explosion that wiped out Tess's final opponents, winning her and Johnny the game and the whole tournament. Their opponents just stared at them, jaws dropped.

"OH YEAH!" shouted Johnny.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" said Tess as the small audience cheered at the tournament's winners. Then, some judges handed Tess and Johnny each checks for five hundred dollars.

* * *

><p>"Man Tess. You were tearing it up!" said Johnny at the after party. The judges had ordered a ton of pizzas.<p>

"Yeah. Pretty much." she said back. She didn't sound happy about her victory in the tournament.

"Ok. What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I've just been thinking. I'm not sure I'm supposed to be here."

"What are you talking about? Your grades are higher than any of ours. You can fix just about anything. What do you mean you're not supposed to be here?"

"That's just it. Every other girl in California usually goes to the mall on the weekends. I work on my car and play video games the whole time."

"I see your point, but what's wrong with being different?"

"Nothing, but I just want to be somewhere where people don't come to me for every tech problem. I'm just not sure if I really want a job in technology."

"Well, everyone wants to go somewhere they've never been, but come on. You're pretty much the smartest girl in California. You could make millions here."

"I don't know." she paused after she finished her pizza. "I'll see you later. I'm going to the movies." she said getting up and leaving.

* * *

><p>"Maybe I'm just tired and stressed out right now." she said. She had just walked out of the theater after the movie and was headed home. There was a surprising lack of people along the streets of California. Still, she looked behind her every once in a while to make sure she wasn't followed. "I mean Johnny's right. My grades are higher than anyone's. Still, it'd be nice to meet girls I can talk to and a guy I'd like and he'd like me back."<p>

Suddenly, when she turned around again, she saw a bright yellow star getting brighter in the sky. The bigger it got, the more curious she got about it. Then, she realized it must've been a meteor headed right for her. She quickly ducked as the meteor flew just over her head. She slowly turned around and looked at the small, smoking crater where the meteor had hit. As the smoke cleared, she was what it really was, four statuettes; a dragon with a metal suit, a train-like robot with drills for hands, a small gremlin-like creature with two guns and his tongue sticking out, and a troll with metal hands and feet and dynamite on its back. And in the center of these statuettes was an amulet consisting of a small, red, purplish gem with a gold ring surrounding the edge. As she touched it, it glowed bright yellow. When the light faded, it was shaped like some kind of gear made of topaz.

"Whoa. This is weird. What the heck are these?" she said. She looked at her watch and decided she should get home before it got too late. She looked at the topaz cog and the statuettes and decided to take them with her, just in case they were valuable.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Tess apparently had been playing video games all night. She hadn't even changed clothes. She always did that when she couldn't sleep. She had been playing the new Ratchet and Clank game, All 4 One. Unlike most games, she wasn't having as much fun with this one. "Man I wish I could co-op with someone, but everyone's busy. There's no one I can play this game with." she said.<p>

"May I give it a try?" said a voice from behind her.

"Sure I gue…" she stopped for a second, then she slowly turned her head to see where the voice came from. Then, she saw her nightstand where the statues had been when she got home and saw them not only moving, but they were flesh and blood as well. She screamed and fell out of bed from shock. She slowly looked over the bed to see them again. They hadn't gone anywhere. It was like they expected her to do that.

"Who are you?" she said.

"I'm Boomer." said the troll. His beard was brown and shaggy. He really did look like a troll except for his iron hands and feet. They were encased in strong looking blue metal gloves and fingered boots. There was a huge load of dynamite on his back.

"I'm Drill Sergeant." said the robot. He looked a lot like a train with his mouth resembling a train's snow plow. He was mostly red with gold everywhere, kind of an Iron Man paintjob. There was a small gun on his head and he had drills for hands. There were two gears where his feet should have been. His eyes were two yellow lights.

"I'm Trigger Happy." said the gremlin. He had long pointy ears that went straight up. His tongue was hanging out and he had a big goofy smile on his face. His guns were like huge revolvers that had no barrels. It was like the bullets were supposed to come straight out of the magazine.

"I'm Drobot. We are your Skylanders Tess." said the dragon with a booming electronic voice. He was pretty scrawny, but seemed to be wearing a blue metal suit. His scales were naturally a brownish green color with reddish-brown legs. His helmet had what looked like a bronze shark's fin on top and had yellow lenses covering the dragon's eyes. Two bronze gears hinged the helmet to the plate covering his lower jaw. His wings were folded in and there was a glowing orange core on his back. His tail seemed to be tipped with a narrow pyramid-like drill.

She got up more quickly when Drobot said her name. "Have we met before?" she asked.

"No, but we've come to find you." said Drill Sergeant.

"Why me? What are you talking about?" said Tess.

"Forgive us. I forgot that you weren't aware of the situation. We are champions from a world called the Skylands. We served under the command of a portal master, a sorcerer able to send his Skylanders and magic spells anywhere they wish. Our portal master, Eon, was recently killed by an evil portal master named Kaos while trying to send us and the Skygems to you." said Drobot.

"Ok. That explains the whole Skylands thing, but I still don't get the whole Skygems thing. What the heck are those?"

"Well, you're already got one. The gear shaped topaz?" said Drill Sergeant.

Tess got the gem out of her pocket. "The Topaz Cog? What is this thing for anyway and where are the others?" she asked holding it up.

"They were sent to the other seven portal masters. There are eight of you. One for each Skylands element. That amulet is the source of your power. You are the portal master of tech. The energy of machinery." said Trigger Happy.

"What? You expect me to believe that? That I have powers over technology?"

"Yes. Don't you see? All your life, you've been better at fixing things than anyone you knew right? When most people see programming languages, all they see is random numbers and letters. When you look at it, you see a language that you can read more clearly than English. All that's true. And you know it. Don't you?" said Drobot.

Tess just stood there. Drobot had just described her perfectly. "Why have you come looking for me?" she said.

"I know you don't feel ready for this, but we need your help. Kaos has destroyed the Core of Light, a magical device that kept the darkness from shrouding our world. If we don't stop Kaos soon, Skylands will be overrun by the darkness." said Drobot.

"Look. I'm sorry, but you came here for nothing. I'm not…whoever you think I am. I'm just a girl from California who's smarter than most of the people she knows. You'll just have to find someone else." She threw on a jacket and headed downstairs.

"Tess wait." said Drill Sergeant as he started to follow her. But Drobot held up a wing and stopped him.

"Just give her time. She needs to be willing to come with us, but this is a lot to take in all at once. Now that she's found the Skygem, her powers will reveal themselves soon." he said.

* * *

><p>"What are they thinking?" Tess thought to herself as she walked along the street. "How can I be some kind of sorceress with powers over technology? Tech and magic don't go together. How is that possible?" Suddenly, she heard an alarm going off at the local bank. Without even thinking about it, she made a beeline for the crime scene. When she got there, she saw a big guy screaming at the teller to give him all the money. He was holding a big machine gun. She hid behind one of the plants inside to avoid being seen.<p>

"Just give me the money and I won't shoot you!" he screamed.

"Ok Ok. Just calm down." she was trying to calm him down while trying not to freak out at the same time. Tess realized the teller was a friend of hers. She knew she had to do something. She checked her phone, but she wasn't getting service. She looked around, then, she saw the lights. Somehow, she also knew there was a phone behind that desk. Without thinking about it, she held up her hand and a holographic display showed in front of it. It looked like a gear shaped readout of something. Suddenly, the phone jumped off the receiver and wound the cord around the robber.

"Hey! What's going on!" he dropped his gun from freaking out at the phone attacking him. He tried to bend over and reach it, but it was too far out of reach and the phone cord was squeezing him like a boa constrictor. Suddenly, the light bulb above him exploded and a tendril of electricity shot out of it and electrocuted him almost to the point of killing him. He fell over twitching and struggling to break the cord. Tess looked at the hologram around her hand and started freaking out. It disappeared as she decided to get out of there before the police showed up. They wouldn't connect her with the crime unless they asked to tell them everything she knew and she was the worst liar she knew.

* * *

><p>"Tess. You home?" said Lisa as she walked in the door. "Sorry I didn't call. Last minute date plans. Hey did you see the news today? Some guy robbed the bank and the phone and lights started acting…" she stopped as she saw Tess changing the channels on the TV by just pointing at it. Tess turned around got up from the couch. "…freaky."<p>

"Lisa, I need advice." she said.

"So what you're saying is that you guys are from another world, some evil sorcerer destroyed your magical shield doohickey, Tess is some kind of sorceress with the power of technology, and you need her help to restore it and save your world from dark forces. Did I miss anything?" said Lisa. Tess and her Skylanders had just told her the whole story.

"She won't be alone. There are seven other portal masters like her. They will all fight together." said Drobot.

"Tess. Are you sure you want to do this?" said Lisa.

"Positive. I've always been wondering what I've been meant to do for years. And I think I've just found it." said Tess.

Lisa sat there looking at a picture of her, Tess, and their parents. "Do Mom and Dad know?"

"No. This isn't something I can tell them."

"And you're going through with this even no matter what I say? Even if I tell them?"

"Yeah." said Tess. Lisa just sat there for a minute.

"Need help packing?"

* * *

><p>Tess closed the trunk of her car, which looked like Bumblebee from Transformers by the way. "All packed?" said Lisa.<p>

"Yeah. I've got everything I think I'll need. Promise not to break anything while I'm gone." said Tess. Lisa started laughing.

"I promise I'll try not to." She hugged her little sister tightly as they said goodbye.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." said Tess.

"I'm gonna miss you too." said Lisa letting her sister go.

"You've got my alibi right?"

"As far as Mom, Dad, or anyone knows, you're in Japan right now for a video game convention."

"Perfect." said Tess as she got into her car. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Yeah. Good luck." said Lisa as Tess started the car and started driving.

* * *

><p>"Ok Drobot. How do we find these guys?" said Lisa as she came to a red light.<p>

"The Topaz Cog will show the way." he said from her dashboard. Boomer, Trigger Happy, and Drill Sergeant were riding in the front seat. Tess took the Topaz cog from underneath her shirt and looked at it. She had started wearing it on a chain around her neck. One of the teeth started glowing more brightly than the rest of it. The red light turned to green and she started driving again.

"Well then, let's go." she said.


	4. Marissa, Portal Master of Water

**Chapter 3; Marissa, Portal Master of Water**

**To answer my reviewers' questions, after I introduce my portal masters, I'll have one chapter for each mission and one more for the aftermath at the very least. I may add one or two chapters for the Skylanders to become more powerful or for the usual roommate craziness that happens when a group of different people start living together. I'll have them meet up in the same chapter for the Scattered Islands mission. Also, I can see that this is my most popular story, so I'm updating it as often as possible. If it seems like it's been a while between updates, I've been out of school and I haven't had very good Internet service at my house. Plus, these chapters are harder to write than they seem.**

**For Marissa's theme song, I went with No Ordinary Girl by Kate Alexa. I know it's the theme song to H20, which I'm guessing mostly girls watch, but I've only seen that show because the girls in it were hot.**

* * *

><p>"Out of the way!" said Marissa as she came bolting out the door. She almost ran into her brother Mark running out of his beach house this early in the morning. She was wearing a blue bikini with her black hair tied in a ponytail. She was carrying a surfboard with a dolphin jumping out of the water on it.<p>

"Hey! Where are you going? You don't have to be at work 'til noon." he said.

"Sorry Mark. Gotta catch those waves before work! Bye!" she said still running away.

"I swear. She just started college and she still spends more time swimming than fish do." he said as he looked through the mail and went inside.

**No Ordinary Girl by Kate Alexa**

Marissa looked out over the beach. The waves were getting really high that morning. She couldn't resist waves like this before going to her job at SeaWorld, so she ran out to the water.

_I've got a special power  
><em>**She started swimming farther out to see where the waves were.**_  
>That I'm not afraid to use.<br>Every waking hour  
>I discover something new<br>So come on, this is my adventure  
>And this is my fantasy.<br>It's all about living in the ocean,  
>Being wild and free.<em>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,

**She turned around and surfed towards shore. **_  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>I've got the power if I just believe.<em>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>The world's my oyster,<br>I'm the pearl,  
>No ordinary girl.<p>

We've got to stick together

**Marissa's in her room, dressed in a SeaWorld uniform. Obviously she just finished getting ready.**_  
>'Cause the best things come in three.<br>Want it to last for ever  
>All the magic and fun at sea.<br>So come on, this is our adventure,  
><em>**She's driving down the road, on her way to SeaWorld.**_  
>There's no telling where we'll go<br>And all I want is just to live amongst the H2O!_

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>I've got the power if I just believe.<p>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>The world's my oyster,<br>I'm the pearl,  
>No ordinary girl.<p>

Come along it just gets better.

**She gets there and says hello to some of her coworkers, including Shamu, before the show.**_  
>So much to do and just so little time,<br>'Cause it all depends on weather.  
>You want to live and learn of what's behind.<em>

_'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
><em>**Shamu does his show while Marissa talks to the crowd and gives him fish.**_  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>I've got the power if I just believe.<em>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>The world's my oyster,<br>I'm the pearl,  
>No ordinary girl.<p>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>I've got the power if I just believe.<p>

'Cause I'm no ordinary girl,  
>I'm from the deep, blue underworld,<br>Land or sea,  
>The world's my oyster,<br>I'm the pearl,  
>No ordinary girl...<p>

* * *

><p>"Awesome show Marissa." said a nearby janitor. Marissa was petting one of the dolphins. She was on break and had recently finished lunch.<p>

"Thanks." she said, looking up for a second.

"Hey don't forget. Your next show's in ten minutes." said the janitor before walking away.

"Got it. Thanks." She left and the dolphin went back into the water.

"Hey Marissa!" someone said. Marissa turned around and saw her blonde friend Jenny.

"Hey." she said.

"Awesome show. It's like you were meant to work with Shamu." said Jenny.

"Thanks. By the way. How was last night?" said Marissa. She was nudging Jenny playfully with a huge smile on her face, hinting at something.

"It was the biggest mistake of my life." said Jenny. She no longer sounded happy.

"What? I thought you and James would really hit it off. I saw the way he was looking at you the other day."

"He was checking me out doofus. When we went to the movies, he did that stupid yawning arm thing six times. I poured my slushy on him and he still wouldn't stop. So I dumped his sorry butt."

"In that case, don't worry. I've noticed a ton of guys eying you around here. I'm sure one of them…"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"Jenny screamed as she stopped Marissa and looked her in the eye. "Every time you set me up on a date, it always ends up being a disaster. You really need to learn to stay out of my love life." She let Marissa go as they kept walking.

"I just know how much you complained about being single when I started working here."

"Well what about you? I haven't seen you dating anyone lately. You spend so much time setting people up on blind dates that you haven't had a date since…well ever." Marrissa was starting to get annoyed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you show me that you can get a boyfriend, I'll let you set me up with someone." Jenny walked away as Marissa got to the Shamu theater.

"Yeah? Well…You're lucky I don't set you up with some total Star Trek nerd." she yelled as she went inside.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, the park was short handed so Marissa volunteered for the night shift. Whenever Marissa got a night shift, the others looked the other way when she wanted to go swimming with the dolphins. It was the middle of the night and she was sitting on the boardwalk of the dolphin pool while everyone else locked up. She had a key to the back entrance so she wouldn't get locked in. One of the dolphins poked his head out of the water and started making that dolphin noise at her.<p>

"Hey Echo." she said as she started petting him. Echo made the same noise again whenever she said something.

"Thanks, but you did most of the work." Echo pulled out of her hands and squeaked loudly.

"What are you talking about? I love it here." She reached back for Echo, but he swam back out of her reach, staring her in the eyes.

"Okay. I've been wondering about something. Is it that obvious?" Echo squeaked even louder that time.

"Fine. I've noticed that I love swimming and surfing and I'm really good at it. I was thinking about entering a surfing competition somewhere, but I love working at SeaWorld too much. I don't know. Maybe I just need a third mandatory option. Something I don't want to do, but have no choice." Suddenly, Echo started squeaking like crazy then dived back down."

"Hey. What's wrong?" said Marissa. Then, she turned around and saw a bright blue star getting brighter. Then, she realized it must have been getting brighter so she ducked as it flew over her head and headed right into the water. Afraid it would scare the dolphins, she dove in and looked for it. She found it at the bottom of the dolphin tank. Since it was glowing, it wasn't hard to spot. It looked like a reddish-purple round amulet with a gold ring around the edge. There were also four statuettes with it; a yeti with four arms, a bipedal crab with a mace, a gecko with a fin down his neck and scuba gear, and a fish man with a harpoon gun and barrels on his back. Marissa grabbed up the statuettes and amulet and swam for the surface. As she came up, she put the statues on the boardwalk next to her bag and looked at the amulet. Suddenly, it glowed with a blinding blue light. When it dimmed, Marissa saw that it had become a sapphire shaped like a drop of water.

"No way." she just stared at the gem in her hand. She could have sworn it was still glowing. She had never seen anything like it before. Looking back and forth between the statues and the gem, something told her she needed to take them with her. She put the gem and statues in her bag and went to the restroom to dry off and change. After that, she went home, hoping she could figure out what those things were and no one else on the night shift saw them.

* * *

><p>It was morning and Marissa was getting a morning shower. She hadn't washed her hair yet so it was still dry. It was her day off and she planned on enjoying every minute of it. Then, she heard her brother yelling from outside the door.<p>

"Marissa, I'm going to work." he said.

"Alright. See you later." she said. After he had left, she reached for the soap, but felt something else. It seemed flat, but its edge was pointed upwards. She looked at it slowly and saw the gecko statuette sitting on the bar of soap. She screamed her head off and bolted out of the shower, throwing on a towel. She also saw the four armed yeti, the bipedal crab, and the fish man standing on the counter.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON! WHO ARE YOU?" she screamed again.

"I'm Zap." said the gecko. He was blue with slightly bumpy skin and orange eyes. He had horns that curved behind his head and a two green sails down his neck and back. The one on his back ran to the end of his tail. He seemed to be wearing the torso of a golden diver's suit. It had two tanks on the back and a green light on the front.

"I'm Gill Grunt." said the fish man. He had light blue skin, yellow eyes, and blue leather clothing, including pieces of leather around his forearms and shins. He was holding a spear gun with a silver, arrow-shaped harpoon loaded in it and he had two small blue barrels on his back. He had a fin on his head that looked like a mohawk, two fins around his ears, and webbed feet with three toes each, and hands with four fingers each.

"I'm Slam Bam." said the yeti. His skin was blue and he had white hair on his arms, legs, and head, but nowhere on his hands, feet, or face. His hands had four fingers and his feet had four toes.

"And I'm Wham-Shell." said the crab. His red armor had some gold edges and his head looked like it was in his chest. His blue eyes looked like they were right between his shoulders. His four fingered hands and three toed feet had gold claws on each one. There were small spikes along the left and right sides of his back. He was holding a huge bronze mace that looked a little rough and rusty.

"Is everything alright?" said Gill Grunt.

"UH NO! THERE ARE SHRUNKEN TALKING MONSTERS IN MY BATHROOM! How did you even get in here? Didn't you realize I was in the shower?" screamed Marissa again.

"Forgive us. We forgot that you would have no knowledge of the events currently taking place. We need your help Marissa." said Zap. Marissa stopped freaking out and was ready to listen.

"How do you know my name?"

"It's a long story." said Wham Shell.

"Can you tell me while I get dressed?"

* * *

><p>"Ok. What's the story?" said Marissa. She was in her room drying off behind one of those folding screens with the talking statues sitting on a desk out of view of her.<p>

"We are the Skylanders, champions sworn to protect the world known as Skylands from the forces of evil and darkness. We previously served under the command of a very old portal master, a sorcerer able to create gateways throughout space, dimension, and if legends are true, even time. His name was Eon. His palace was recently attacked by an evil portal master named Kaos. To save our lives and preserve Skylands' last hope for peace, he used what remained of his strength to send us to your world to deliver the Skygems to the eight legendary portal masters. One of which is you." said Zap.

"So I'm supposed to save your world from dark magic spreading all over the place?" said Marissa as she poked her head out for a second.

"I know it seems unfair for us to insist you leave your world on such short notice, but we desperately need your help. The Core of Light has been destroyed. It used to be our best defense against the darkness. If we don't rebuild it soon, Kaos's dark magic will shroud Skylands in eternal darkness. And I have no doubt that once that happens, he will set his sights on Earth next." said Slam Bam.

"And what are these Skygems supposed to be?" said Marissa. She had just finished putting on a bikini and grabbed a beach towel. Obviously, she was planning on hitting the beach again.

"Well, you've already got it. It's the sapphire drop you found with us." said Gill Grunt.

Marissa came out from behind the screen with the towel thrown over her shoulder and walked over to her nightstand to look at the gem. She picked it up by the thin rope that was supposed to go around her neck. "So this is a Skygem." She put it on, expecting something to happen. "What's it supposed to do?"

"It is the source of your elemental energy. You are the portal master of water, which gives you power over the seas." said Wham-Shell.

"What makes you so sure that I'm this 'portal master' you're looking for? I can't save an entire world."

"You won't be alone. Like I said, there are seven other portal masters like you. They've probably discovered their Skygems and awakened their Skylanders even as we speak." said Zap.

"Well, ask them. They're probably saying the same thing I'm about to say. I can't do this." she said as she walked out the door.

"Marissa wait!" said Gill Grunt. He tried to go after her, but Zap stopped him.

"Give her some time. She needs a moment to get used to the idea. I'm sure she's feeling overwhelmed. Remember we need all eight of the portal masters to defeat Kaos." he said.

* * *

><p>"What if they're right?" said Marissa. She was sitting on her beach towel looking out over the ocean and the sun's reflection on the water. "But how do they expect me to believe I have powers over the sea?"<p>

Suddenly, a lifeguard started blowing his whistle on the public beach nearby. "Tsunami!" he yelled. All the people on that beach ran for their lives towards their houses. Marissa shot up off her towel. She looked out and saw the wave. She knew they wouldn't have time to get away from it. And even if they escaped the tidal wave, their homes would be destroyed with it. She ran towards the beach and into the water. The lifeguards were distracted by the rushing crowds to notice her. Without thinking, Marissa held up her hands as high as she could, palms forward, as a globe of light surrounded each one, rippling as if they were made of water and her eyes started glowing bright blue.

As the wave was about to hit her, it stopped altogether, as if whatever Marissa was doing stopped the wave. Then, she lowered her arms so that they pointed out to sea with her palms still facing the wave. And just like that, the wave reversed itself and traveled back out to sea. The water that was in the wave harmlessly flowed over the shore, covering the beach and just getting the people's feet wet. They were still frantic so they didn't notice Marissa. As she realized what was happening, she looked at her glowing hands. She realized she had just stopped a natural disaster with supernatural powers. She decided to hide before people noticed her. Right then, she knew what she had to do.

* * *

><p>"Marissa? You home?" said Mark. He had just walked in the door. "You enjoy your day off? I wish I could get one. Work is killing me. So what did you…" Mark stopped when he saw Marissa. She was holding up her hands as water from the sink was standing straight up and held the shape of the Empire State Building. Then, Marissa put her hands down as the watery sculpture dropped just like real water.<p>

"Do you have a minute to talk?" she said.

* * *

><p>"Ok. Let me make sure I heard everything." said Mark. Marissa and her Skylanders had just finished explaining to him what had happened that day. "You guys are heroes from another world, my sister is supposed to be some legendary sorceress with powers over the sea, and you've come all this way to ask her to help you rebuild some magical thingamajig that kept dark magic from taking over your world. Anything else you'd like to add?"<p>

"I can see why you're concerned. But we will do everything in our power to protect her. And besides, she will not be alone. There are seven other portal masters like her with their own elemental powers." said Zap.

"Even with talking cartoon characters standing on my coffee table telling me this, I still don't believe it."

"Mark." said Marissa. "You heard about that tsunami on the news today right?"

"Yeah. A lifeguard said it somehow disappeared before it reached the shoreline."

"It didn't just disappear. I ran in front of it…"

"What? What were you thinking?"

"Listen. I ran in front of it without thinking. I just held up my hands and the wave stopped right in front of me. Then, I felt like I was telling the water to go the other way, and the wave just flowed out to sea. The water in it just flowed over the beach like nothing, washing away a toy shovel at most."

Mark was speechless. Normally he wouldn't believe such a story, but after seeing his sister make an Empire State Building out of water, he couldn't help but believe her. "Have you told mom and dad about this?"

"No way. They would absolutely freak. Besides, even if I wanted to, you know how bad that webcam screws up."

"This would be a lot easier if they hadn't moved to Japan."

"Look. I know I don't say this often, but thanks for letting me move into your beach house. If it weren't for you, I would've had to change schools right when I made friends."

"Hey. You're my little sister. It was no problem at all."

"So. Do you promise not to tell mom and dad?"

"Do you promise to be careful?"

"Yes."

"Then good luck."

"YES! Thank you thank you thank you!" she screamed as she shot up and ran over to hug Mark.

"Promise me something else. Promise you'll stay out of everyone's love lives until you get your own boyfriend."

Marissa let go of him immediately. "That one's out of the question." They both started laughing.

* * *

><p>Marissa closed the trunk of her car in the garage. It was late that evening and she had just finished packing her stuff.<p>

"All packed?" said Mark.

"I think so." said Marissa. She and Mark hugged goodbye one more time.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"You too." Marissa let go of him and opened the door. "Hey. You've got my alibi right?"

"Yeah. As far as anyone else knows, you're training for a surf contest in Hawaii."

"Perfect. Although to be honest, I'd rather be doing that." As Marissa got in the car, Mark started waving goodbye. As soon as she had driven off, he whispered "Be safe."

* * *

><p>Marissa pulled out of the drive thru window at McDonald's. She realized she hadn't eaten before she left. Once the guy at the window hander her her food, she pulled into a parking space, looked at Zap and said "So where am I supposed to go?" Zap was sitting on the dashboard while the others were riding in the cupholders.<p>

"The Sapphire Drop will show you where to go." said Zap.

Marissa took the drop in her hand. It floated out of her hand a little and turned backwards to that the pointed end was pointing in the direction her car was facing. "Well, let's meet my new roommates." She drove off, anxious to meet the others.

* * *

><p><strong>I've decided to go ahead and rate this story T just in case. I was probably going to change it for Ry's chapter anyway. If this chapter seemed shorter, I couldn't think of much else for Marissa to do. After this, you'll probably be wondering about the pairings I'm going to set up. You can guess, but I won't tell you if you're right, wrong, close, or way off.<strong>


	5. Ry, Portal Master of Fire

**Chapter 4; Ry, Portal Master of Fire**

**If you've read Power Rangers Gormiti, you'll probably notice that Ry's more of a rebel in this story. I based Ry on myself when I wrote that story, but when I started this story, I wanted to base Max on myself, so I decided to base Ry and Max on two different sides of myself. I based Max on my smart, calm side and Ry on my short tempered and rebellious side. Plus, even though Ry's pretty hot headed in Power Rangers Gormiti, I wanted him to still be capable of being a leader, but since Max is the leader in this story, I'm focusing more on Ry's thirst for trouble. If you don't notice him getting angry much, I'll try to fit it more in when he meets up with the others. When you start reading, you'll see why I rated this story T for this chapter.**

**When I said my portal masters get involved in fights, it'll be when the Skylanders are up against a huge army of enemies. Also, I can't send all my portal masters into every fight. That would be too easy. I'll probably send two or three at a time at most. Also, I don't plan on using the adventure packs in this story. They're going to be part of Skylanders Origins. You'll see why in a later chapter. I don't think this story is really a trilogy anymore. I've gotten ideas for crossovers with Yugioh, Dragon Booster, and Jackie Chan Adventures plus Skylanders Giants coming out in fall. So now, this is my Skylanders Series.**

* * *

><p>"Ryan! Where are you?" said Debra, a woman in her forties. She was in her living room looking for her son…again. She had already looked all over the house and couldn't find him. Finally, in a fit of frustration, she whipped out her phone and called him on his phone. It took a minute for him to pick up, but she finally got an answer.<p>

"Sup?" said a boy about eighteen over the phone.

"Where are you? You were supposed to be home an hour ago."

"I uh…got stuck with some homework." Debra could have sworn she heard loud music playing.

"What's that?"

"Huh?"

"I could swear I can hear music playing. Are you at a party?"

"What was that? I'm not…good signal…have to…back later." It seemed that Ry's cell phone wasn't getting good reception from Debra's point of view, but she knew her son better than that. She could even tell by how he told her he had homework.

"Yeah right. What am I going to do with him?" she said, hanging up the phone. "He's so much like his dad, but that's the scary part. I don't even want to know what he's up to this time."

* * *

><p>"Well, that could've gone better." said Ry. He was at a party the whole time. He turned his phone off to make sure his mom wouldn't interrupt him again. He had short brown hair, and was wearing blue jeans with a black leather jacket and a red T-shirt with a phoenix on it underneath.<p>

"Did she buy it?" said a guy from one of the tables.

"I don't think so Leo. She heard the music playing."

"In retrospect, maybe you should have gone outside before picking up the phone."

"Good point." said Ry as he sat back down. "Now where were we?"

"I was about to win your challenge." Leo set two big bottles of hot sauce on the table.

"Yeah right. You know I'm the king of hot sauce drinking. I could drink a gallon of it and it still wouldn't hurt."

"We'll see." said Leo.

A blonde girl sitting at the table was judging the contest. She held up her hand and said "Ready? 1, 2, 3, GO!" Then she threw her hand down and Ry and Leo grabbed up their bottles of hot sauce and started drinking them lightning fast, not bothering to stop for a second. Leo was starting to look like his mouth was on fire, but Ry's face didn't change one bit. Eventually, Leo couldn't take anymore and slammed his bottle down on the table screaming.

"WATER! WATER!" He bolted out of his chair and ran straight for the punchbowl nearby, plunging his head into it. Pretty soon, he drank enough punch to put out the flames in his mouth and walked back over to the table, his black hair dripping with the red fruit juice. His friends were all laughing at him, but Ry was still chugging his hot sauce. As Leo sat back down, Ry slammed the empty bottle down on the table and took a breath.

"I am the king of spicy foods. Chelsea, please tell me you got that." said Ry. He was talking to a girl with black hair, shorts, and a black tank top holding a video camera nearby.

"Got it. That's going on Youtube tonight." she replied.

"Awesome! Call it 'Hot Sauce Fail.' It'll be hilarious."

"Ha ha. Very funny. How do you do that?" said Leo, out of breath.

"I like to make my lunch with the spiciest foods known to man. I can handle one bottle of hot sauce. Don't you remember that sandwhich I made last year?"

"How could I forget the Inferno? I set off three fire alarms in my head the second I tasted it."

"Hey that was nothing compared to that chili I made for that Superbowl party."

"Ah the infamous Lava Lake Chili. The reason I spent the half time show drinking out of the faucet. I swear. That chili has so many alarms, they should invent a new number just for it. Do me a favor. Next time you want to play a drinking game..."

"You know I don't drink alchohol."

"You don't know what you're missing dude. It makes you feel good."

"Yeah, but you feel like crap the next morning. That and it makes you do stupid things. And I need to stay sharp tonight."

"You're going again?"

"Oh yeah. And I'm going to win…again."

* * *

><p>After the party, everyone was outside either standing on the sidewalk or in a car at a stop sign. Ry was in a red Mustang with an orange flame job. They were about to compete in an illegal street race across Chicago. Chelsea went out onto the middle of the street, standing where she would be between the cars when they started. She held up a checkered flag and looked at the cars as the engines started revving.<p>

**Just a Little Faster by There for Tomorrow**

Ry got ready to step on it when he saw Chelsea hold up the flag. When she slung it down, Ry and the other drivers sped off, tires smoking and engines roaring. The race had just started and he was already in the lead.

_You keep calling it a crash and burn  
>Just wait your turn you might have time to speak<br>_**One of the racers came up behind Ry fast and tried to push him into a wall.**_  
>There barely was a lesson learned<br>Cause it return no favors back to me  
><em>**Ry slowed down just enough to make the other guy miss and almost crash into a wall, really slowing him down.**

I'm sure it tasted oh so sweet  
><strong>Ry saw a left turn up ahead.<strong>_  
>But it was never good enough for me<br>I bit the tongue behind my teeth  
><em>**He stepped on the brakes just long enough to make a skid turn.**_  
>It was never good enough for me<em>

You said you always keep your word  
><strong>When he was lined up with the street, he hit the gas right into the turn.<strong>_  
>Show me what you're after<br>I thought you promised me the world  
>Tell me what you're after<br>Go on and take it way to far  
>Cause here we are waiting once again<br>You said you always keep your word  
>Show me what you're after<br>_**Some random people coming out of a bank saw Ry's car shoot by followed by the other racers.**_  
>Just a little faster<em>

Are mine the only eyes that see  
><strong>Ry's phone rang. Caller ID showed it was his mom. He ignored it and kept his eyes on the road.<strong>_  
>So steadily this cut and dry routine<br>Even when you're by my side  
><em>**He saw the U-turn ahead and hit the brakes just enough to spin around to face the other way and take off.**_  
>I still need time to feel the company<em>

I'm sure it tasted oh so sweet  
><strong>The other racers did the same thing with one of them getting stuck on the sidewalk<strong>_  
>But it was never good enough for me<br>I bit the tongue behind my teeth  
>It was never good enough for me<em>

_You said you always keep your word_  
><em>Show me what you're after<em>  
><em>I thought you promised me the world<em>  
><strong>The left turn came up again, but to the right, so Ry did the same thing he did before, but to the right.<strong>_  
>Tell me what you're after<br>Go on and take it way to far  
>Cause here we are waiting once again<br>You said you always keep your word  
>Show me what you're after<br>Just a little faster  
><em>**Ry rushed ahead of the other racers and crossed the finish line first.**

_Just a little faster_  
><strong>He got out of his car to meet his friends cheering for him.<strong>

Hold your breath now the bad blood's wearing thin  
><strong>The party was interrupted by police sirens, so they got back in their cars and made a break for it.<strong>_  
>From the pain that settles in when we learn too much to soon<br>Hold your breath now the bad blood's wearing thin  
><em>**Ry saw a support beam holding up a sign under construction up ahead and turned on the Noz to ram it.**_  
>From the pain that settles in when we learn too much to soon<em>

You said you always keep your word  
><strong>He hit the support beam and took it out so that the sign came crashing down in front of the cops, allowing Ry to get away.<strong>_  
>Show me what you're after<br>I thought you promised me the world  
>Tell me what you're after<br>Go on and take it way to far  
>Cause here we are waiting once again<br>You said you always keep your word  
>Show me what you're after<em>

_It was never good enough for me_  
><em>Show me what you're after<br>_**As soon as he was out of sight from anyone, a red shooting star fell out of the sky and exploded in front of him.**_  
>Just a little faster<br>_**He pulled a short stop before he reached the rubble and the crater.**_  
><em>

"Whoa!" exclaimed Ry. He got out of his car to see what the heck crashed in the road. The smoke cleared pretty fast when he got close, revealing four statuettes; some kind of rock monster, a blindfolded elf with a bow and arrow, a short knight with a big head, and a bird with two pairs of legs. At the center of these figurines was a reddish purple round amulet with a gold ring around the edge. As soon as Ry picked it up, it started shining with a blinding red glow. When the light dimmed, the amulet had become a ruby in the shape of a roaring flame. He was sure it was still glowing.

"Ok. This is just weird." Ry looked at his watch. "I'd better get home. I'm late enough as it is." Before getting back to his car, he looked back at the amulet and figurines. Something told him to take them with him. Besides; they might be worth something, so he grabbed them up and put them in his bag.

* * *

><p>"Mom? I'm home." said Ry as he walked in the door.<p>

"Oh really?" Debra said. She was sitting on the couch, obviously not happy. "Where have you been? And don't tell me it was homework because I heard the music."

"Fine. I was at a party. And just so you can't say I lied to you, I won another street race tonight."

"Ryan. You know I don't like when you do that."

"I still don't see the problem."

"It's illegal, you could have wrecked you car, you could have even killed someone or yourself. Do you want to end up like your father?"

"Look. I get it. You don't want me to end up in prison like dad. Ease up and maybe I'll clean up my act."

"Ryan. This is serious. You're doing the same things your father did when he was your age. Now look where he is."

"Getting three meals a day and doesn't have to deal with you."

"Ryan, focus! You're eighteen now. You're past the age range for Juvenile hall. If you mess up again, you'll go straight to prison. And you'll be there way longer."

"At least I'll see Dad again."

"That's not the point. Ryan. I don't want to see you get thrown into the slammer and ruin your life. I'm your mother. I've always wanted what was best for you. If you want to race, fine. You can train to enter an official racing league, like NASCAR."

"Alright alright alright. So how long am I grounded this time?"

"None. I'm going out of town for a few days and I'm leaving you in charge of the house."

Ry's ears went into shock. He never thought his mother would leave her delinquent son in charge of the house. "I'm sorry what? I could have swore you just said you were leaving me in charge of the house."

"You heard me." Ry felt his mom's forehead to check and see if she had a fever and was saying crazy things.

"I'll call the doctor." He started to leave before Debra stopped him.

"Ryan. I'm fine. I've just realized punishments are getting me nowhere these days. I heard some friends say that a good way to turn a child's behavior around is to give them more responsibility and see if they're ready."

"Are you serious? You do realize what happened the last time you left me home alone right?"

"Please. Don't remind me. But luckily you've realized that party was a bad idea since then, so I figure you learned your lesson before I could punish you."

"So as long as I don't throw any more parties, I can do whatever the hell I want until you get back?"

"I wouldn't go that far. I'm hoping this will help teach you that you can't always do whatever you want. Do you think you can handle this?"

"Oh yeah."

"Alright then, now get some sleep, you've been up all night."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Ry walked into the kitchen and started to get breakfast. The TV was on playing the Fast and the Furious in the living room so he could eat while watching TV. Debra left a note reminding him what not to do.<p>

_Ryan, _

_I left early to beat traffic. Remember, no parties, no girls over, no payperview. Help yourself to anything you want in the fridge or cabinets. If you run low, I left you money for groceries in the old cookie jar. And don't even think about spending that money like you want. That money is for food and emergencies only. Besides, I know you've been winning money from your street races. Did you think I assumed you won that Mustang on a radio contest?_

_Be careful_

_Love, Mom_

"Even on paper she's a major killjoy." he said. He got some cereal out of the cabinet. Then, he saw a strange orange bird sitting on the table. He walked over to it and picked it up. "Hey. How'd you get in here?" But then, the bird turned around and turned out to have two pairs of bird feet. It was one of those statues from last night.

"I don't know. One minute, I'm hurtling through space, then the next, I'm in here." the bird responded. He had orange feathers and a blue underbelly. There was a yellow crest on his head that looked like a flame. Small rings of blue feathers surrounded his orange eyes.

"What the!" yelled Ry.

"What's the problem?" said another voice from behind him. Ry turned around and saw the rest of the statues standing on the counter. "We've been here all night. I figured we were invited." It was the rock monster talking, only it was made of lava. His head looked like it was in his chest and had a yellow spike sticking out of it and two more sticking out from his shoulders. His hands were globs of molten magma. His skin was covered with glowing hot pieces of volcanic rock, except for his hands and feet.

"Uh…That was before I knew you guys would come to life the next morning. I could have sworn you were statues."

"We must have been frozen during our trip to Earth from Skylands. It was a long trip." said the elf. He had green skin with blue hair cuffed in a short ponytail with a gold ring. Actually, it looked like a feather duster. He was wearing a red blindfold with a tunic made of bronze scales. He was wearing brown leather pants, boots, and a shirt underneath the tunic. A belt secured a black leather quiver on his back containing a bronze bow and a set of arrows.

"And now you've lost me again."

"Ry, I know this seems short notice, but we need your help. The Core of Light has been destroyed." said the knight with an echoing, metallic voice. His armor seemed to be solid steel with some of it painted chrome blue. It looked like his head was too big for his body and, like the lava monster, took the place of his chest. His sword was a shiny orange color with an arrow-like shape. The weirdest part about him was that he didn't have a face, just a burning flame in the opening where it was supposed to be. There were also flames coming from the top of his helmet, which had what looked like it had a metal collar reaching the same height as the helmet.

Ryan stopped and got even more confused. "Ok. How do you know my name?" he asked them.

"Forgive us. We forgot you wouldn't know about what is happening right now. My name is Sunburn." answered the bird.

"Name's Eruptor." replied the lava monster.

"My name is Flameslinger." The elf bowed as he introduced himself.

"I am Ignitor." the knight responded.

"We are Skylanders, members of a league of champions who protect the world of Skylands from dark forces." Sunburn continued. "We used to serve under Eon the portal master, a sorcerer cabable of opening up gates through space, dimension, and possibly time. Recently, an evil portal master named Kaos attacked Eon's palace and destroyed the Core of Light, a mystical device designed to repel dark magic from Skylands. Before Kaos destroyed the core, Eon used the last of his strength to send us and the Skygems to Earth to find the eight portal masters of the elements, one of which is you."

"And you've lost me again. What the heck is a Skygem?" asked Ry.

"It's a jewel that is the source of energy for your powers. There are eight of them, one for each of the Skylands elements. Yours is the Ruby Flame and you are the Portal Master of Fire."

Ry took out the jewel he found the night before. It seemed to glow a little brighter when it was close to the Skylanders. "So you expect me to believe all that? That I'm some kind of legendary sorcerer with the power of fire? And you need my help to stop some evil wizard from taking over your world?" he said.

"That is correct. We need you Ry." replied Flameslinger.

"I'M BEING PUNKED!" yelled Ry. "That is it! I am being punked! What am I on? One of those hidden camera shows?" He started looking everywhere for the cameras. "Did some of my friends put you up to this? I'm onto you Leo. This is payback for the hot sauce isn't it? What are these guys? Animatronic?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Eruptor.

"You guys aren't real. You're just part of some freaky prank. I know it." yelled Ry as he went straight out the door.

"Ry! Where are you going?" screamed Ignitor. He started to follow, but Sunburn stopped him before he could go anywhere.

"He probably just needs time to adjust to this change. We can't do anything to discourage him. Remember, we need all eight portal masters to rebuild the Core of Light." Sunburn told him.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry dude. I don't know what you're talking about." said Leo over Ry's phone. Ry had called him to ask him if he was the one who set up the prank.<p>

"Come on man. I've called absolutely everyone I know and they've told me the same thing. Obviously, someone set the whole thing up." Ry responded.

"Well it wasn't me dude. I'll catch you later." Leo hung up and Ry was just confused.

"Unbelievable. Absolutely no one I know set up the prank. Did I miss someone? No. I called everyone I could think of on my contact list. No one set it up." Ry started thinking. "Could those little guys have been telling the truth? No way. It's not possible. Even if it was possible for anyone to have that kind of power, why me? I'm no hero." Just then, Ry heard a girl scream in a nearby alley. There was no one else around, but Ry just ran for it. When he got there, he saw two rough-looking guys had just cornered Chelsea.

"Please let me go. Don't hurt me." she said. She looked more freaked than anyone Ry ever knew.

"Hurt you? We just thought you wanted to have some fun." said one of them.

"You hold her down. I'll get her first." said the other. They started laughing and coming closer to her. She backed up against a wall screaming. Suddenly, Ry charged in and punched them both from behind. Then, he stood in front of Chelsea, ready to beat the crap out of those guys.

"Stay back. You want her? You gotta go through me." he yelled. He looked angry, like he was about to kill them.

"Ry! What are you doing? Those guys are twice your size!" Chelsea warned him.

"Hey wait your turn man. We saw her first." said the first guy.

"Sounds like she's not interested. I think you idiots should take a hint and back off." Ry snapped back.

"What? Oh that's it. You're going down lunch meat." said the other guy. He and his buddy each got out a crowbar and came closer to Ry, ready to beat the living daylights out of him. But, Ry's hands started burning with red flames, but they didn't hurt him. Then, his eyes started burning the same way. He pushed his hand forward and the street in front of him burst into flames, cutting him and Chelsea off from her stalkers.

"Whoa! What the hell?"

"Forget it! RUN!" The guys who were about to rape Chelsea ran away with their tails between their legs. Ry stared at the flames, then his hands. He clenched them into fists to make the red fire disappear which also made the wall of fire die down.

"How did you do that?" said Chelsea. She wasn't afraid like the other guys were. She was amazed by what Ry just did.

Ry turned around and said "It's a long story."

* * *

><p>"So let me get this straight." Chelsea said to the Skylanders. Ry had brought her over, disobeying his mom's rule about having girls over, so the Skylanders could tell her the story. She was sitting at the table while Ry leaned against the wall. "These guys are some kind of magical aliens sent here to find you because you have some kind of bizarre powers and they need you and seven others to rebuild some magical thing-a-ma-bob or their world will be taken over by evil forces. Right?"<p>

"That's the story." replied Eruptor.

"If Ry agrees, yes. But we desperately need him. The Core of Light has been destroyed and we don't have much time to rebuild it. We need him and the other portal masters to come to Skylands immediately." Sunburn told her.

"You're really doing this?" Chelsea asked Ry.

"Yeah. I have to. They need me." Ry responded.

"When did you decide to just drop everything and go to another world?"

"When I saved your butt, probably literally, a few minutes ago."

"I didn't ask you for help. You do realize we broke up right?"

"I know that. Just because I don't want us to be together doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you. I may not be your knight in shining armor, but I'm still your friend."

"Well thanks. But what if people start asking you where you are?"

"Good point. Could you come up with a good alibi?"

"Let me put it this way. Ry? Oh he's in Mexico for some off-road race."

"Awesome. You are the best ex-girlfriend ever. Wow that didn't come out right."

"That's what I keep telling people. What about your mom?"

"I'll leave a note for her telling her I have to take care of something and I'll be back when I can."

"Alright then."

* * *

><p>After Ry got packed that night, he got into his car with the Skylanders in the passenger's seat with Sunburn on the dash.<p>

"So, where are we supposed to go?" he asked them.

"We need to meet up with the other portal masters." replied Sunburn.

"And where do we find them?"

"Use the Ruby Flame. It will point the way."

Ry took his Skygem out from under his shirt and looked at it. It floated above his hand a little and the top of the flame turned to point in front of him. "Whoa."

"So, are you ready?" Sunburn asked him.

"Are you?" Ry answered. With that, he hit the gas and sped out of his garage and hit the road, ready to meet the other portal masters.

* * *

><p><strong>I wanted to use Through the Fire and Flames for Ry's theme song, but it's pretty long I think. So I picked out a theme song that had more to do with speed since he is a street racer. I get that you guys really want me to keep updating this story, but I've got a lot on my plate this semester. Especially with this one class. So I'll update this story when I can.<strong>


	6. Rocky, Portal Master of Earth

**Chapter 5; Rocky, Portal Master of Earth**

* * *

><p>"Mary?" said a man in a business suit as he walked in the door. He set his briefcase down and undid his tie and put it on a nearby coat rack.<p>

"Allen? Is that you?" said Mary. She was drying her hands after washing a load of dishes.

"Yeah." Allen hugged his wife as she came up to him.

"How was work?" she said.

"Brutal, but I think the merger's a done deal at this point."

"That's great news. Hey. I made the sale on the Sterling House."

"Really? I thought they made the price too high. I thought no one would have enough money for it."

"Well, Denver just got a millionaire moved into town."

"That's great. How are the boys doing?"

Mary's excitement faded as he mentioned that. "Well, Ricky's decided to run for class president."

"Really? That's wonderful. What about Rocky?"

"AUGH!" They heard a scream outside followed by the sound of a trash can falling over. They rushed outside to see a boy about eighteen on the ground next to a skateboard and a dented, spilled trash can.

"I'm ok. My head broke the fall." he said.

"Rocky!" Allen yelled at his crazy son.

"What were you thinking?" said Mary.

"I actually thought I wouldn't crash." said Rocky, shaking pebbles out of his short blonde hair.

"Are you insane? Why can't you just be normal for a change?"

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Well, people actually take you seriously when you don't crash into the trash can."

"Hey. That can't be helped. I crashed and I need to get better. You're the ones who bought me this skateboard."

"I didn't think you were going to wipeout this often."

"Hey. That's part of it. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any."

"The idea is to learn from your mistakes before you make them." said Allen.

"You can't learn from something you only heard about. Besides, where's the fun in that?"

"You're missing the point. Do you have any common sense whatsoever? It's like you refuse to be taken seriously."

"Hey. For your information. People do take me very seriously." He grabbed up a duffel bag that he had dropped after crashing. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a ventriloquist act to perform." He then got back on his skateboard and headed off.

"Unbelievable." said Allen.

"What are we going to do with him?" Mary asked rhetorically.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't wanna Grow Up by Simple Plan<strong>

This is who I am  
><strong>He started skating down the sidewalk.<strong>  
>and this is what I like<br>GC, Sum and Blink and Mxpx rocking my room  
>if your looking for me<br>I'll be at the show  
>I could never find a better place to go<p>

Until the day I die I promise I won't change  
>so you better give up<br>I don't wanna be told to grow up  
>and I don't wanna change<br>I just wanna have fun  
>I don't wanna be told to grow up<strong><br>He got off his skateboard when he arrived at some dinner theater, going inside.**  
>and I don't wanna change<br>so you better give up  
>cause I'm not gonna change<br>I don't wanna grow up

I like to stay up late  
><strong>Rocky's standing on the stage of an open mic night with a dummy, an old man with an angry expression, doing his ventriloquist act.<strong>  
>spend hours on the phone<br>hanging out with all my friends  
>and never being at home<br>I'm impolite and I make fun of everyone  
>I'm immature but I will stay this way forever<br>Until the day I die I promise I won't change  
>so you better give up<p>

I don't wanna be told to grow up  
><strong>Rocky gets an annoyed look on his face while the dummy starts laughing like an idiot. Possibly insulting Rocky.<strong>  
>and I don't wanna change<br>I just wanna have fun  
>I don't wanna be told to grow up<br>**The dummy says something else and Rocky gets an angry look.**  
>and I don't wanna change<br>so you better give up  
>cause I'm not gonna change<br>I don't wanna grow up

**Guitar solo: Rocky and the dummy start yelling at each other back and forth. Then, Rocky starts to get a drink of water.**

I don't wanna be told to grow up (grow up, grow up)  
><strong>The dummy looks like it's lip syncing the song while Rocky drinks the water.<strong>  
>I don't wanna be told to grow up (grow up, grow up)<p>

I don't wanna be told to grow up  
><strong>As the song picks up again, the dummy starts spraying the audience with water.<strong>  
>and I don't wanna change<br>I just wanna have fun  
>I don't wanna be told to grow up<br>and I don't wanna change  
>so you better give up<br>I don't wanna be told to grow up  
><strong>Rocky puts the dummy away as the audience stands up and applauds him.<strong>  
>and I don't wanna change<br>I just wanna have fun  
>I don't wanna be told to grow up<br>And I don't want to change  
>So you better give up<br>No I don't want to change  
>So you better give up<br>Cause I'm not gonna change  
>I don't wanna grow up!<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey. That was hilarious Rocky." A girl approached Rocky after the show while he was finishing his dinner.<p>

"Oh. Hey Sarah. Thanks. I just wish my parents would agree. They completely refuse to come to any of my shows."

"They've still got their heads up their butts?"

Rocky laughed. He was actually picturing what that would look like. "Yeah. They think I'm wasting my time and I need to care more about what other people think. They're convinced that no one takes me seriously around here."

"That's completely stupid. Everyone around here loves you."

"Yeah. I just can't wait until I have enough cash to move out, then I'll never have to listen to them ever again."

"Where you going?"

"No idea, but it'll be as far away from them as possible."

* * *

><p>On his way back home from the show, Rocky was talking to his brother on his phone. "Yeah. I'm on my way to McDonald's now. I'll pick up the burgers in a second." He paused for a second. "Got it. I'll see you there bro." As he hung up, a shooting star crashed right in front of him, scaring him right off balance, causing him to fall off his board and roll out onto the sidewalk.<p>

"Ow. Ok. That's getting old." He looked at the smoking crater where his board was. As he got up and retrieved his board, he looked at the smoke, but soon ignored it and started to get back on his board, but as he tried to go, he heard a cracking sound as the wheels seemed to be stuck. He looked down, and the sidewalk had cracked underneath his feet. He was confused. He was sure the crack wasn't there before, but that wasn't the weirdest part. It seemed to go straight from his board to the crater.

"Whoa. That's weird." he said. That crack got his attention, almost as if something wanted to talk to him. He looked inside as the smoke cleared, seeing inside four small statues; an armored dinosaur with a mace tail (Ankylosaurus if you're a dinosaur geek like me.), a crocodile-like creature with armor and boomerangs, a strange rock monster with crystal shapes coming out of his shoulders and hands, and a shark with arms and legs. In the center of these statues was a strange round gem. It was a purplish red with a gold ring circling the edge.

For some reason, Rocky felt like his hand was being drawn to it. He reached for it, and as he picked it up, an orange flash blinded him. As it dimmed, the gem had changed its shape to something like an brownish-orange mountain-shape.

"No way." said Rocky as he stared at the gem's orange glow. He looked at his watch. It was getting late and he was supposed to bring burgers. Before getting his skateboard, he looked back and forth between the gem and the little statues. Something was keeping him from leaving without them. He grabbed them up and put them in his bag, heading home to get some sleep. He had plans in the morning. He was hoping he could figure this out then.

* * *

><p>"That's more like it." he said. He was climbing the side of a cliff. Rock climbing always helped him clear his head, no matter what he was going through. It was an hour or two before sunrise and he did this every week. He loved to see the sunrise from the top of the cliff. It made him feel like he was on top of the world. He also loved the feel of solid rock in the side of the wall of stone. He couldn't explain it. To him, it somehow felt like the Earth itself gave him strength.<p>

"Man. That never gets old." Rocky had finally reached the top and he was watching the sunrise, sitting on the edge with his feet dangling over the side. "Well, let's see these things again." He opened the bag and took out the rock monster from it. Something was different about it. The crystals seemed to have become more transparent and they were a strange bluish green color. "This just gets weirder and weirder." Suddenly, he heard yawning and looked around, but he didn't see anyone around.

"Hey. Do you mind?" He heard it again. It sounded like it was right next to him, but he couldn't see where it was coming from. "Down here." said the voice again. Rocky looked at the little statue in his hand. Its yellow eyes had opened and the thing was looking around. "Would you mind putting me down?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!" Rocky screamed and dropped the rock creature and ran into nearby bushes.

"Ow. I meant gently." said the rock creature.

"Ok. What the heck are you?" screamed Rocky.

"He's a Skylander." said another voice. Rocky looked at his bag. The other three statues were alive too and were poking their heads out. It was the shark who was talking. His arms and legs seemed to have thicker skin than the rest of him. His muscles were added to strange glowing orange spots on his back.

"Guys. Come on. He has no idea who or what we are." said the dinosaur. He had green scaly skin, brown armor, stone boomerangs, and two rows of red plates running down his back.

"Then what are waiting for? Him to ask you? Sorry about them. They're idiots. Name's Bash." said the Ankylosaurus. His thick armor was a dark brown, but his unarmored underbelly was a lighter brown. He was covered in spikes that looked like the lighter brown with a spiked mace at the end of his tail. His head looked like that of a T-rex. "The crocodile's Dino-Rang, the rock monster's Prism Break, and the shark's Terrafin."

"For the last time, I am not a crocodile, I'm a dinosaur. Come on. It's right in my name." shouted Dino-Rang.

"Hello?" Rocky interrupted. "I still don't know what a freaking Skylander is. Start from the freaking beginning."

"I told you they're idiots. Anyway, we're champions from the world known as Skylands, a series of floating islands in a massive sea of clouds. We pledged to protect Skylands under a portal master named Eon, a sorcerer able to open portals in space, dimension, and if legends are right, even time. This allows them to send magic spells and Skylanders, that would be us, to just about anywhere."

"What does that have to do with me?"

Terrafin did a facepalm. "I was getting to that." said Bash. "We came here because we need your help. The Core of Light has been destroyed. It used to be a device that kept the dark forces of evil from taking over Skylands, but now an evil portal master named Kaos has destroyed it. Before it was destroyed, Eon sent us here with the Skygems to find the eight portal masters of the Skylands elements. You are the portal master of Earth, the power of the world itself."

"Skygem? What the heck is that?"

"Oh for crying out loud! You're holding it you moron!" screamed Terrafin.

Rocky looked at the mountain shaped gem he had found last night. "That's your Skygem, the Garnet Mountain. It's the source of your powers." said Bash.

"This thing gives me powers?"

"Yeah."

"And I have powers over the Earth now?"

"Yes."

"So I can make rocks do whatever I want?"

"Yes."

Rocky looked back and forth between the Skylanders and the Garnet Mountain. "WHOA! THIS IS SO COOL!" Then he started laughing and screaming total fanboy style. "Ok. So how does this thing work?" Then, he looked at the ground. "Wait I got it. I just punch the ground right?"

"Well actually…" Dino-Rang started.

"Here goes. Heeyah!" Rocky punched the solid stone ground really hard, but nothing happened for a second. Then, he slowly pulled his hand back and started shaking it going "OW! MAN THAT HURTS!"

"I was about to say that your powers probably haven't really activated yet." said Dino-Rang.

"It's probably going to take either some time or a stressful situation to jumpstart them." said Bash.

"Well a little warning would have helped." Rocky got an idea. "Maybe if I focus, it'll work better. Let's go somewhere. There are a lot of rocks around the park and they should be good practice." Rocky grabbed his bag with the Skylanders and headed down the cliff.

"Ow." said Prism Break. He and the others were shifting all over the place. "Are you sure he's the Earth Portal Master? He seems kind of stupid."

"At least he seems eager for this. I just hope the others will be as easy to convince." said Bash.

* * *

><p>"Ok. Aaaaaaaand. Now!" Rocky thrust his hand forward over the gravel. He had been doing the same thing since he got there, hours ago. "Guys. It's not working. Are you sure you've got the right guy?"<p>

"Well…" started Terrafin.

"Yes." Bash stopped him from insulting him. "You just have to give your powers time to set in."

"I don't know. Maybe I just picked the thing up by accident." said Rocky. "Maybe you guys just assumed it was me. I mean…I'm no hero." Suddenly, they heard screaming from across the street. Rocky ran over to see what it was. Sarah from the club last night had sprained her ankle and was lying in the middle of the street, struggling to get up. There wasn't anyone else around for some reason. But that wasn't it. There was a truck coming and it was screaming out of control, heading right towards her.

Sarah was screaming her head off because she couldn't move. Rocky ran in front of her and held up his fist, facing the oncoming truck. His hands became surrounded by glowing orange dust clouds. He punched the ground and a boulder shot up out of the ground. Then, he punched the rock forward with his other hand and it shot towards the truck, taking out its engine. It was slowing down, but it wouldn't stop, Rocky put his hand over the hole in the ground, palm face down, and brought up a wall of stone. As the truck hit the stone barrier, parts started flying past them and scattered across the road.

As if he had just woken up, Rocky looked at his hands. As the dust clouds dispersed, the wall of stone crumbled into gravel back into the hole. "Whoa!" said Sarah. Rocky turned around and saw her staring at him. "How did you do that?"

"I told you." said Bash. He had just poked his head out of the bag and looked at Rocky. "You're the portal master of Earth."

"And who's that guy?" said Sarah.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I've got to get you to the hospital."

* * *

><p>After getting Sarah to the hospital, Rocky's parents showed up. Rocky had called them for getting Sarah a ride home. The doctor had just finished putting a splint on her ankle and was going to get her some crutches.<p>

"So what exactly happened?" said Allen.

"A truck was coming straight towards me and Rocky stopped it and saved my life." Rocky did a facepalm. She wasn't supposed to tell them that part.

"Wait What?" said Mary.

"It's a long story. Can I tell you on the way home?"

* * *

><p>"So let me make sure I've got this straight." said Allen. He was driving them all home. "You guys are some kind of super hero team from another world, Rocky is some kind of sorcerer with powers over the Earth, and you need him to go with and save your world from some kind of dark evil force. Is that it?"<p>

"He won't be alone. He's one of eight portal masters. I know it seems a lot to ask you, but we can't save Skylands without him." said Prism Break.

"And you're sure you want to do this?" said Mary as she looked at Rocky in the back seat.

"Yeah. After what happened today, I'm positive." said Rocky. They pulled into their driveway and dropped Rocky off at home.

"Well if you insist on doing this, I don't think it's my place to stop you." said Allen as he and Rocky got out.

"Really? Why are you so ok with this?"

"Well, the first thing you did with your powers was save someone's life. You got serious when you were needed. I think you're going to be fine when you do this."

"Thanks dad. And I don't think you should tell anyone about this. If anyone asks why I'm gone, tell them I went on a small scale ventriloquism tour."

Allen paused a second. "That'll have to do. Good luck son." He said as he gave Rocky a good bye hug.

"Thanks dad." As he let go, he gave his mom a hug goodbye and told them all not to tell anyone about the truck thing.

* * *

><p>After packing his bags, Rocky took his car because he could fit his stuff in one duffel bag and backpack. "So where exactly am I supposed to go?"<p>

"I have no idea. Eon said the Garnet Mountain's supposed to point to where you're all supposed to meet."

Rocky took out his Skygem from under his shirt. He had put it on a neck chain. It rose up out of his hand and the peak of the mountain pointed out where he was driving.

"Alright then." he said as he pulled out of the driveway and drove off.

* * *

><p><strong>How was that? I read the comments that said I was being to repetitive in the chapters so I tried to change this one up as well as I could. So, only three characters to introduce before they all actually get to Skylands. I'll also look for ways to incorporate the Legendary Treasures and Magic Items, except for Sparx. I've got an idea for him. I'm also considering changing Skyler's weapon from two fans to a bow and arrow. Please tell me which weapon you think works better for her. If this chapter seems kind of rushed, I really wanted to get this chapter done.<strong>


	7. Woody, Portal Master of Life

**Chapter 6; Woody, Portal Master of Life**

* * *

><p>"Woody!" said Joe. He was talking to his son out in the fields.<p>

"Yeah dad?" said an 18 year old boy as he looked up from the corn he was working with. He had a dark brown mullet with green eyes. He wiped some dirt off on his camouflage T-shirt and blue jeans. He slipped his brown leather vest back on and grabbed his black cowboy hat. You'd think that living on a farm wouldn't be so bad, but you haven't heard it from him.

"I need you to run to Johnny's and pick up my fertilizer. You can finish the corn when you get back."

"But dad, I already promised Big Bart I'd work Trent's shift tonight. This is the third time you've made me blow off work."

"Hey." said Joe. "How many times have I told you? Family comes before anything else. Understand?"

"Yes sir." said Woody. He went to the porch and slipped off his work boots and put his cowboy boots back on, then, got into his dad's pickup truck. Woody's dad was always making him break commitments to his friends and other people who were counting on him because one of his relatives needed something, whether the relative needed him more or less than his friends did, Joe always made him put his family first.

Woody's grandpa, an old Native American man, came out and looked at Joe. "You know he won't listen to you forever if you treat him like that."

"That doesn't concern you Charlie. He's my son." said Joe as he went back inside.

"He's my grandson you know." Charlie said to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Life is a Highway<strong>

**Woody is seen driving down the road in the truck.**

_Whooo umm yeah…_

_Life's like a road that you travel on_

_When there's one day here and the next day gone_

_Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand_

_Sometimes you turn your back to the wind_

_There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door_

_Where blues won't haunt you anymore_

_Where brave are free and lovers soar_

_Come ride with me to the distant shore_

_We won't hesitate_

_To break down the garden gate_

_There's not much time left today_

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

_Through all these cities and all these towns_

_It's in my blood and it's all around_

_I love you now like I loved you then_

_This is the road and these are the hands_

_From Mozambique to those Memphis nights_

_the Khyber Pass to Vancouver's lights_

_Knock me down get back up again_

_You're in my blood _

_I'm not a lonely man_

_There's no load I can't hold_

_Road so rough this I know_

_I'll be there when the light comes in_

_Just tell 'em we're survivors_

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

_Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah_

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

_There was a distance between you and I (between you and I)  
>A misunderstanding once<br>But now we look it in the eye_

Ooooo...Yeah!

There ain't no load that I can't hold  
>Road so rough this I know<br>I'll be there when the light comes in  
>Just tell 'em we're survivors<p>

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

_Life is a highway  
>I wanna ride it all night long<br>If you're going my way  
>I wanna drive it all night long<em>

Gimme gimme gimme gimme yeah

_Life is a highway_

_I wanna ride it all night long_

_If you're going my way_

_I wanna drive it all night long_

**Song fades out as Woody parks the truck next to a stack of bags behind someone's house.**

* * *

><p>"Hey Woody. How's everything going?" A man came out to greet Woody. He was in bad need of a shave. Woody got out of the truck and picked up the first bag.<p>

"Well, I can't complain." he said as he put it in the truck's bed.

"You feel good about the fair? After winning three straight years in a row, you should be the judge this time."

"Well to be honest, I'd rather just blow it off altogether."

"Huh? Don't you like the feeling of winning best corn every year?"

"Well, the thrill wears off after the first two years. I'm actually supposed to be working Trent's shift at Bass Pro tonight, but my dad made me blow off my boss again."

"Oh come on. You're 18. Aren't you old enough to make your own decisions?"

"Yeah, but try telling that to my dad, especially when it involves making relatives a lower priority. I hate it when he does that."

"Why do you put up with him?"

"He's my dad. I don't have a choice. I have to do whatever he says until I get my own place, but that won't happen until I can hold down a job and earn enough money to get a place before dad makes me drop everything again."

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks. I'll need it." Woody got in the truck as he loaded the rest of the fertilizer.

* * *

><p>Woody had just finished the corn, but it was the middle of the night.<p>

"Man. I can't believe this." he said as he headed for the door. "Everytime someone in my family needs something, no matter how small, dad always makes me just drop whatever I'm doing or about to do and go help them, even if someone else needs me way more. I can't take it anymore. I just wish I could move out and stop listening to him all the time."

Just when he was about to open the door, he heard something hit the ground behind him. He could also hear something burning a little bit. He turned around and saw a small smoking crater at his feet. He bent over it and looked inside. The smoke cleared and revealed a round, reddish-purple gem with four statues; a lizard, two tree-like creatures, and an elf ninja with two small tusks in her hands.

Woody picked up the gem. As soon as his hand touched it, a bright green flash blinded him for a second. When his vision cleared, he saw that the gem had changed in his hand. It looked like three glowing emerald leaves.

"Whoa!" said Woody. He looked back and forth at the little statues and the gem in his hand. Something inside him was telling him to take them. He grabbed them up and took them with him inside.

* * *

><p>That morning, Woody slept as late as he could. Of course, this was the one time in weeks his dad was giving him a break. This was the only break his dad had given him in weeks and he planned on enjoying every second of it.<p>

After getting dressed, he went downstairs for some breakfast. His parents and grandpa were in the kitchen as well.

"Might want to kick back while you can Woody. I'll need you fully rested for tomorrow."

"Got it. But I'm going deer hunting today." said Woody as he got cereal out of a cabinet.

"AAAAAAAAAUGH!" Woody's mom screamed, dropping her cereal bowl.

"What is it?" said Joe.

"Lizard! On the table!" she screamed.

"Oh. I'll get it." said Woody. He went over to the table and picked up the lizard. Before he could get to the door and put it outside, he got a good look at it. Its scaly skin was bright green with red on its legs and a leaf-like tail with a fade to blue towards the end. It also had yellow horns around its head.

"Hey."Suddenly, the lizard started talking. "Would you put me down?"

"Everyone was dumb struck. They were all speechless for several seconds before grandpa Charlie took a sip of his coffee.

"Uh. Did that lizard just talk?" said Joe.

"Dragon. Not lizard. I don't do that tongue thing. And my name's Camo." said the lizard. Woody's mom just fainted. Woody set him back down on the table.

"Thank you. Woody, the other Skylanders and I need your help." he said.

"Ok. First, how did you know my name?" Woody asked. "Second, who are the Skylanders?"

"Over here." yelled a deep voice from behind them. Woody turned around and saw the other three statues standing on the counter.

"Ok. This is getting weird." Woody commented.

"My name is Stealth Elf." said the elf. Her green skin was mostly covered with brown leather pants, gloves and a top. Her blue hair was tied in a braid and had two bangs that hung below her brown ninja mask. She looked at him with pupilless, turquoise eyes.

"I'm Stump Smash." said one of the trees. His hands were actually logs that looked perfect for use as hammers. His square jaw had two stubby horns sticking out of either side of his lower jaw. If he was a tree, he was covered in moss and his branches were missing.

"Name's Zook." said the other tree. His body actually consisted of wide stalks of bamboo with smaller ones having red leaves on top of his head, like they were his hair. His teeth were yellow, but they were probably supposed to look like that since they were made of wood. In his right hand, he carried a large wooden bazooka with a huge, red thorn sticking out of the front. His other hand had some sort of wooden bracer on it.

"I didn't ask your names. I asked what the heck a Skylander is." Woody answered.

"Of course. We forgot you didn't know that." Camo explained. "Skylanders, such as ourselves, are champions from the world of Skylands sworn to protect it under the leadership of a portal master, a spellcaster able to manipulate gateways in space, dimension, and legends say, even time. Our previous portal master, Eon, was defeated, but he used the last of his power to send us and the Skygem here to you and the other portal masters. You, Woody, are the portal master of Life, the power of the forest."

"You had me until you said portal master. And what the heck's a Skygem anyway?"

"You're wearing it!" yelled Stump Smash. "It's the Emerald Leaf."

Woody took the amulet from under his shirt. "So what's this 'Emerald Leaf' supposed to do anyway?"

"It's the source of energy for your powers." said Stealth Elf.

"Powers?" Woody did the math on something else Camo had said. "I can control plants?"

"Yeah. The forest is your element." answered Zook.

"But why do you guys need me?"

"The Core of Light has been destroyed." Camo said. "It used to be the only device keeping the Darkness at bay on our world. We need you and the other seven portal masters to come to Skylands and help us reassemble it, before an evil portal master named Kaos completes his conquest and fully conquers our world."

"No way. Out of the question." said Joe. Woody turned to him in shock.

"Dad. I know that you've always said family comes first, but…"

"No buts. As long as you live in my house, you follow my rules. Now go take your break before tomorrow. I'll need you at full steam to finish the crops."

"Yes sir." responded Woody sadly. He walked out the door hanging his head. Zook looked at Joe and prepared to fire his bazooka, but Camo stopped him.

"Don't." he told Zook.

"But we need Woody's help and his dad's just…"

"He's not going to go against his father's wishes. He needs to decide to do it himself."

* * *

><p>"It's unbelievable." said Woody. He hadn't had much luck hunting deer, mostly because he was grumbling to himself the whole time, scaring away any deer or keeping him from hearing any. "Their entire world is in danger and all my dad cares about is winning that stupid fair." Another thought occurred to him. "Maybe their wrong. If I had any powers, I would have discovered them by now."<p>

Suddenly, a growl sounded from behind him. He turned around and saw a coyote slowly approaching. He froze in fear of the creature. He tried backing away slowly, but then, more coyotes started to approach him from everywhere. The first one got into a low crouch and finally pounced, but before he could do anything, Woody threw his hand up and a stray branch grabbed the beast out of nowhere, dangling it from the trees and scaring off the rest of the pack. Woody looked at the tree, then saw a green glow against the brown bark. It was coming from his hands. They were surrounded with a bright green light, in the shape of leaves floating out of his hand. He couldn't see the other glow, because it was coming from his eyes. Eventually, the glow disappeared.

"Whoa." Woody realized something. "I have to help them."

* * *

><p>Woody busted in, slamming the door open. "Dad, we need to talk." he said firmly.<p>

"Hey. Not when you have that attitude with me." said Joe. He was stirring a big pot of mashed potatoes. "Go upstairs. Dinner's almost ready. You can tell me then. Whatever it is, it can wait." He went back to stirring the potatoes before the flowers sitting on the window shot at him and grabbed his wrist. Joe looked at the flowers, then his son to see his hand glowing and outstretched in his direction.

"No it can't." Woody responded as he lowered his hand and released his enchanted grip on the plants.

* * *

><p>"No, No, No! Absolutely not!" said Joe at dinner. Woody had already explained to him every side of the story he could think of, but Joe wouldn't listen to any of it.<p>

"But dad…" Woody started.

"No buts. I need you for the fair every second up until then."

"But the Skylands may not have that long." he pleaded.

"Look. The 'Skylands' are not our problem. Our only concern right now is the fair. Your family needs you more than total strangers do Woody."

"UGH!" Woody, in a fit of rage, pushed his plate away from him and stormed off up to his room, ignoring his dad's yelling at him to get back downstairs.

Charlie started to get up too. "How can you be so selfish?" he said.

"Don't give me that. My father taught me to always put my family before anyone else. No matter who needs what, family is a man's top priority."

"You care more about a stupid fair than the freedom and lives of millions of innocent people? What was my daughter thinking?" he said as he left the table. Woody's mom got up too, completely mad at him.

"Hey. Cheyenne, don't tell me you're taking his side too." Joe said.

"Tell it to the couch. You're sleeping on it tonight." she said before going upstairs.

* * *

><p>"Unbelievable." said Woody grumbling to himself again.<p>

"Why is your father so insistent that you stay here?" asked Camo.

"All he cares about is that stupid fair. No matter what I say…" Woody got a look of realization. "Let me pack. I'm going."

"But I thought you said your father wouldn't let you go." Stealth Elf pointed out.

"He won't if I ask him. But I'm going anyway." he said as he started packing.

"Oh really?" said Charlie. Cheyenne was standing right in front of him.

"Mom, Grandpa, I know what you're thinking, but no matter what I say, I'm going. The Skylands need me." Woody kept packing while he was still talking.

"I do have something to say." said Cheyenne. "Good luck."

Woody stopped packing and looked at her in shock. "You're not stopping me?"

"No. I don't want you to do this, but I can't stop you from doing what you feel is right." she said as she came in and hugged him.

"So, you're letting me go?" said Woody.

"Woody, we can't stand to see you let your father take advantage of you anymore." said Charlie. "We were about to encourage you to finally stand up for yourself before we saw you packing."

"Thanks mom. Thanks Grandpa." Woody hugged them both quickly. "Can you guys help me pack? I don't know if I can finish before morning."

* * *

><p><em>By the time you read this, I'll probably be somewhere you can't follow me. I know you're going to be mad, but there are more important things going on than the fair. You'll just have to wait until next year. The people of Skylands won't have until then if I don't help them. Besides, it's time I stood up for myself and made my own decisions instead of just doing whatever you tell me. When I get back, I'll take whatever punishment you decide to give me, but this is something I have to do, no matter what relative needs me right now.<em>

_Signed, Woody._

Woody left a note on the fridge telling his dad where he went. He had already told his mom and grandpa that if anyone asked, to tell them that he'd gotten a new girlfriend and went camping with her and her parents. He went outside and saw his dad's truck parked in the driveway. He quietly placed his bags in there and pushed the truck down the driveway, knowing that if he started it where it was, it would wake his dad who'd come running out and stop him. Once he had gotten the truck right at the edge of the driveway, he got in and looked at Camo who was sitting on the dashboard.

"So where do we go from here?" he asked him.

"The Emerald Leaf will show the way. We have to follow it." the plant-dragon answered.

Woody took the amulet and looked at it as the gem itself floated above his hand and the top leaf pointed forward. Before pulling out of the driveway, he looked back at the house and whispered to himself. "Sorry dad, but there are more important things going on here."

* * *

><p><strong>Alright then. Didn't expect that twist did you? I figured at least one of them had to be a runaway. Alright. Just two more portal masters to introduce. And just to make sure I've cleared this up, I will not be including the adventure packs in this story. They're going to be used in Skylanders Origins. You'll see why later. I also just thought of a huge twist that I'm going to reveal in a later sequel.<strong>


	8. Dana, Portal Master of the Undead

**Chapter 7; Dana, Portal Master of the Undead**

**Finally got this finished. Just a heads up, this chapter's going to have two songs. One's her theme song, and the other's from the anime, Death Note. I just couldn't resist putting this song in here. I got goose bumps just picturing it.**

**Just one more heads up, the scene where Dana discovers her powers is extra spooky. It's not gory, but since this is the **_**Undead **_**portal master, her new powers scene is going to be more like a horror movie. It does involve death. I will put the title of the music for that part, and a notation saying that the scene if over if you want to skip that part.**

* * *

><p>"AUGH!" Dana had just finished dinner, but was startled by the sound of a girl screaming coming from her room. She ran upstairs to her room and saw her little sister Kiera hiding behind her bed. Her sketchbook was lying open on the desk to a picture of a skeleton.<p>

"Kiera. I told you not to look through my sketchbooks." said Dana as she closed it.

"Well, if you wouldn't leave it out so much, I wouldn't have gotten curious." Kiera responded as she got out from behind the bed.

"What's going on here?" Their mom, Nancy, came in when she heard the screaming.

"What happened?" asked Steve, Dana's stepdad. He had come running in from outside.

"Dana's drawing freaky pictures." Keira tattled.

"You little…" Dana started.

"Let me see." said Nancy. Dana handed her the sketchbook. As Nancy and Steve looked through the pages, they was horrified at the images Dana was drawing.

"What is this?" asked Nancy as she handed Dana back the sketches.

Dana hesitated. "It's from a dream I had last night."

"This is what you dream about? This looks more like a nightmare."

"Calm down Nancy. This is probably just her style." said Steve.

"Well it's…where'd she go?" Nancy just noticed that Dana left while she was talking. "Unbelievable. What are we going to do with her?"

"She's just trying to express herself. Why are you so tough on her for that?" asked Steve.

"Why are you so permissive to her?" said Nancy.

"I'm not. I just remember what it was like to have overcritical parents. I don't want to be like that. She already doesn't like me because I'm not her real dad. I'm trying to connect with my stepdaughter here."

Nancy paused, knowing he was right. "You're right. You can't imagine how hard it was for her growing up without a dad."

"What happened to her dad anyway?"

"I don't know. It was one night with a random guy, and I never spoke to him since. Tried googling him, but never found him. It's like he never existed."

Dana ignored them talking as she went out the door, wearing her black tank top, leather skirt, and fish nets on her legs. She brushed her long dark hair out of her eyes as she left.

Growing up without knowing her dad was never easy for her. Nancy married Steve when Dana was about thirteen. they had Kiera a year later. Steve was trying to be like a father to her, but she just didn't like him yet.

**Creeping in my Soul** **by Cryoshell**

**She started to walk down the sidewalk**

_I see your face before my eyes  
>I'm falling into darkness<br>Why must I fight to stay alive?  
>Heroes fallen<br>Wake me can't you hear me calling  
>Out of darkness they come crawling<em>

_Here I am,  
><em>**She pushes open the gate to an old cemetery and looks around.**_  
>I am Lost in your land<br>And I hope you will be  
>Creeping in my soul<br>Shadows fall, let me out,  
><em>**She finds an old willow tree and sits down under it. **_  
>hear my call<br>And I'll always believe-  
>Creeping in my soul<em>

_Creeps from the deep's_  
><strong>She turns on a small lantern because it was getting dark outside.<strong>_  
>gonna be freaking up your mind<br>Creeps from the deep's gonna be  
>Feeding off the spine<em>

_I fade away into the night  
><em>**As she starts drawing again, the pictures seem to drift around her, but she doesn't notice. They're of terrifying monsters, demons, all kinds of creatures of the night.**_  
>My eyes are closing in<br>Shadows fleeing from the light  
>My nightmares can begin<br>Wake me can't you hear me calling  
>Out of darkness they come crawling<em>

_Here I am I am_  
><em>Lost in your land<em>  
><em>And I hope you will be-<em>  
><em>Creeping in my soul<em>  
><em>Shadows fall, let me out,<em>  
><em>hear my call<em>  
><em>And I'll always believe-<em>  
><em>Creeping in my soul<em>

_Creeping in my soul-_  
><em>It's getting out of control<em>  
><em>I got to find my escape and get out of this black hole<em>  
><em>Justice in the world is hard to find<em>  
><em>Time has come<em>  
><em>Got to make up my mind<em>  
><em>No matter how deep or remote I hide<em>  
><em>All my thoughts seem caught up inside<em>  
><em>Creeps from the deep's gonna be freaking up your mind<em>  
><em>Creeps from the deep's gonna be<em>  
><em>Feeding off the spine<em>

_Here I am, I am  
><em>**The images disappear from around her as she closes her book and turns off the lantern.**_  
>Lost in your land<br>And I hope you will be-  
>Creeping in my soul<br>Shadows fall, let me out, hear my call  
>And I'll always believe-<br>Creeping in my soul._

_Here I am, I am  
><em>**A meteor crashes not too far from her, startling her.**_  
>Lost in your land<br>And I hope you will be-  
>Creeping in my soul<br>_**She gets up and runs to the crater where it crashed. **_  
>Shadows fall, let me out, hear my call<br>And I'll always believe-  
>Creeping in my soul.<br>_

Dana slowly walked towards the smoking crater and looked inside. The dust cleared as soon as she came near it. She saw a round reddish-purple gem inside a gold ring. The amulet was surrounded by four statues; an armored skeleton, a witch of some sort, a skeletal ghoul with a chain mace for a tail, and a dragon. She picked up the gem and it released a dark glow in her hand. When the flash dispersed, she saw it had changed to a dark purple crystal skull. It seemed to be glowing a black light.

"Whoa. This is weird, even for me." She looked at the little statues, hesitated for a minute, and picked them up. Putting them into her bag, she was wondering something.

_I just know I'm gonna regret this._

She didn't make it far out the gate when she ran into someone. He was wearing a leather jacket and pants, and his black mullet had red streaks dyed into it. His jacket had metal spikes on the shoulders.

"Dana. I thought I'd find you here." he said.

"Not now Zeke. I'm going home." said Dana. She tried to leave, but Zeke grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Not so fast babe. We gotta talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." she pulled her arm away from him. "You don't get how this works do you? I dump you, you stop talking to me. How many times do I have to say it?"

"Say it all you want, but I'm not listening. Come on. I'm asking you to come with me. I'm going home. It's more fun there."

"You and your offer have something in common."

"What's that?"

"I'm not interested in either of you." She turned to leave. "And if you keep stalking me, I'm filing a restraining order."

"You'll see." Zeke said to himself.

* * *

><p>"SILENCE! I KILL YOU!" Dana was awoken the next morning by the sound of Achmed the Dead Terrorist, which was weird, because she left her TV hooked up to her laptop. It had been set on a repeating loop of the Death Note episodes and movies. That wasn't the only thing weird about it. The voice that said it sounded as if he were right in the room. Still sort of groggy, Dana slowly got up and saw the ghoul statue standing at the foot of her bed. Only it was no longer a statue. It had come to life. He was a skeleton with teeth that bluged out at the tops, spikes on top of his head, and bright yellow eyes. He was wearing a black robe that narrowed to a point where a chained mace appeared in place of his legs. He seemed to be watching one of Jeff Dunham's shows. Achmed was currently on and the ghoul was repeating his catch phrase.<p>

Assuming she was dreaming, Dana looked at her clock a couple of times and pinched her hand to check if she was dreaming. She wasn't. She looked at the ghoul and said out loud, "Please tell me I'm dreaming."

"Nope. You're wide awake Dana." said a female voice from her left. It was a black dragon with dark red wings, a turquoise beetle-like mark on her head, six spikes that edged her triangular head, and a tail that was tipped with a blade. She was also wearing two bracelets and a collar made of silver.

"Ok. First, how do you know my name? And second, what are you?" Dana asked.

"We are Skylanders." said another female voice, but a much deeper one. This one came from her dresser. The witch and the skeleton knight were there. The witch had pale blue skin, a black robe, and was holding some sort of transparent skull.

"And we came here looking for you." said the knight. He was definitely a skeleton, but he was wearing blue armor with gold edging. He carried a shield and a sword with menacing points. His helmet seemed to have four glowing eyes; two where they should be, one on his chin, and the last on his forehead.

"What's a Skylander and why me?"

"Allow me to explain." said the dragon. "I'm Cynder. The ghoul is Ghost Roaster, the witch is Hex, and the warrior is Chop Chop. Skylanders, such as ourselves, are champions sworn to defend our world, known as Skylands, from the forces of darkness. We once followed a Portal Master, a sorcerer able to command doorways in space, dimension, and time, named Eon. He has been destroyed, but he sent us to find the eight portal masters of the Skylands elements. One of which, is you. Dana, you are the portal master of the undead."

"What? You really expect me to believe that? If I have the power to control the undead, how good can I actually be? You expect me to summon…an army of zombies to fight random dark forces? Doesn't that seem redundant?"

"It's different from the darkness Dana. Believe me. Please come with us. An evil portal master named Kaos has destroyed the Core of Light, the only device that kept the forces of darkness at bay. We need you and the other portal masters to help us rebuild it." said Hex.

"You guys seriously have your heads on backwards. You keep talking about stuff that can't even exist. What's a Skygem anyway?"

"The jewel you found. The Onyx Skull. It is currently the source of elemental energy for your powers." said Chop Chop.

Dana grabbed the gem from her nightstand. "This thing? I'm not the girl you looking for. I'm sorry, but you came here for nothing." Dana grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom to get change, after which, she left the house with her sketchbook.

"I don't think she's coming." said Chop Chop.

"Give her time. I guess she just needs some time to come to grips with this." said Cynder.

* * *

><p>Dana had been hanging out in the cemetery almost all day, but all she could draw were the Skylanders.<p>

"They've gotta be kidding with this." she said as she ripped out a drawing of Cynder, crumpled it up, and threw it aside. "I can't save anyone by controlling the dead."

"Dana?" said a voice from behind her. Dana turned around and saw Kiera coming to her.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Dana asked.

"Mom and Dad met those little talking monsters in your room. I went in there when I heard them screaming. They told us everything."

"Well, they should have just stayed out of sight. I'm not going with them."

"Why not?"

"You know me. I'm no hero. They said I could fight the forces of darkness using the power of the dead. that makes no sense."

"Well, maybe they've got a reason for giving you that power."

"Hey!" said some guys from another entrance. Dana suddenly stood up and got in front of Keira.

"What do you want?" she said.

"Zeke's getting tired of waiting. He said he's not taking no for an answer anymore." said one of them.

"Tell him I'm not interested."

"He heard. He's not listening."

**Low of Solipsism from Death Note**

Dana looked around the graveyard for anything to get away. These guys meant business.

"Run!" she yelled. She and Kiera started running for their lives from Zeke's goons. They weren't that fast, but Dana knew the shortcuts and they were putting good distance between them and their pursuers.

"What do they want?" Kiera yelled.

"Don't ask. Just keep running." Dana replied.

But then, Kiera tripped and fell behind. Her foot was caught in a tree root. Dana turned around to see, but tripped backwards. Soon, Zeke's thugs caught up and reached for Keira first, ignoring her screams.

"NO!" Dana screamed as her eyes turned pitch black and the bones in her hands started glowing bright white through the skin, making the skin and muscles appear as a black outline around the bones.

Decayed hands of zombies shot up all around them, freaking the thugs out. The zombies quickly limped over the thugs and pulled them away from Kiera. These members of the walking dead pulled at the thugs and started draining strange energy from their bodies, slowly causing them to shrivel up and age rapidly. Dana ran for Kiera and pulled her foot free. Holding her close, Dana was frozen with fear.

As the zombies drained the last of the energy from Zeke's goons, they dropped their remains on the ground. Then, they slowly turned towards Dana and Kiera, inching their way over to the two sisters. But as they got within arms' reach of her, They did something she didn't expect. They knelt at her feet, their heads bowed to her. Dana, starting to feel more relief, stood up, then noticed her hands. She had just seen the glow. She held her hand over the zombies and they rose. She thought of something. She hesitated for a minute, and then closed her hand in a fist. As the glow released, the zombies crumbled into dust, disappearing back into the ground.

"What just happened?" Dana asked.

"It's your powers. They saved us." said Kiera.

Her words struck a chord in Dana. She was right. She could protect people with that power. She just did. "I think you're right. Come on. Let's go home. We need to talk to Mom and Steve." She and her sister headed home. Zeke had been watching from a nearby tree. He didn't look happy.

* * *

><p>"I don't know what to think about this." said Steve. "I mean..the power to summon the undead? It's just…too bizarre."<p>

"I know, but I don't think we can stop her if it's what she wants." said Nancy.

"Well, after what the Skylanders told me, I think I'm the only one who can do this." said Dana.

"Please. I know it seems cruel of us to ask so much of her, but we need her help desperately." said Hex.

Her parents weren't sure. "Dana, are you sure you're really the only one who can do this? Is it what you want to do?" said Steve.

"Yeah. I'm positive. I've never been so sure of anything in my life."

"Well then, I guess we should help you start packing." said Nancy.

* * *

><p>After she finished packing and said her goodbyes, Dana got into her car, ready to leave. "You have any idea where we need to go?" she asked Cynder.<p>

"Eon told us once that you'd need to follow the Skygems. They'll show you the way." the black dragon responded.

Dana pulled the Onyx Skull out from under her shirt. It floated up out of her hands and faced the left. Two small beams stuck out of the eyes, as if they were pointing where to go.

"Hard to argue with that." Dana commented.

As she pulled out of her driveway, Zeke watched her from the shadows of the night. He stepped into an alley and waved his hand in front of an old mirror. the evil portal master known as Kaos appeared in its image. "Master Kaos. The Undead Portal master is on her way there." said Zeke.

"WHAT!? GRRR! I told you to destroy her before she found the Skygem!" Kaos yelled.

"I did my best. She discovered her powers before I even realized who it was. Don't worry. I'll take care of her and the others very soon."

"You had better. Otherwise, I will take back the dark powers I gave you." Kaos waved his hand and his image disappeared from the mirror.

"Don't count on it. I'll get what I deserve. Your days are numbered Kaos." Zeke muttered to himself. He waved his hand again and the mirror changed into a dark portal. He stepped through it and returned to Kaos' lair.

* * *

><p><strong>This should be obvious by now, but Zeke is Kaos' apprentice, the Portal Master of Darkness. Alright, only one chapter to go before we actually arrive in Skylands. I know you guys wanted me to keep Skyler's weapon a pair of fans, but ShadowDawn199 made some good points about the bow and arrow. None of the other portal master weapons are designed for long range, so Skyler would be the long range portal master. I think I am going to change her weapon to a bow and arrow.<strong>


	9. Skyler, Portal Master of Air

**Chapter 8; Skyler, Portal Master of Air**

**This is it. The final Portal Master's chapter before we actually send them to Skylands. I'm beginning to question the order in which I introduced my characters though. Also, It looks like this chapter ended up shorter than my others.**

* * *

><p>Skyler opened the door to the bus as her parents followed.<p>

"Mom, I think your shows are getting better. This comeback tour was a great idea."

"I know." said her mom, Tanya. "I can't wait until the final stop when you get up there with me."

"The live TV performance?" Skyler sounded more excited than she actually was.

"Yeah." said a man's voice from behind Tanya. "Imagine it. A live performance, mother and daughter on stage together. What better time to perform the song you wrote together?"

"Oh yeah. Passing the Torch. Can't wait for that either dad."

"Come on Danny." said Tanya. "Skyler, get some sleep. We've got a long drive tomorrow. Remember?"

"Alright." said Skyler. She went to her room to change as her parents went to the front of the bus. Her white tank top and shorts had been replaced with her pajamas as she looked out the window to the moving night time scenery. Her mom's comeback tour wasn't as much fun as she'd hoped it would be. She didn't know why. She had always wanted to follow in her mom's footsteps, but she also always had the feeling that she meant for something more. Like there was something else she wanted to do.

**Sky by Sonique**

_Ohhhhhh oooooooo oooooooooooooooooh yeah  
>Oh yeah oh yeah<em>

_Look at me_  
><em>It really was not easy<em>  
><em>But I can breathe<em>  
><em>And I'm so grateful 'cause I can see<em>  
><em>I am free<em>  
><em>To do exactly what I please<em>  
><em>So come with me<em>  
><em>To a place where we can be ohhh oh oh oh oh oh ...<em>

_Chorus:_  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna hold you I wanna love you tonight<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna satisfy I wanna make you cry<em>

_Follow me_  
><em>To a place where we can be absolutely free<em>  
><em>To be exactly what you wanna be completely<em>  
><em>Lose control that's why I need you more<em>  
><em>Give me the key to set your heart and spirits free ooohhhhh yeeeaaahhh<em>

_Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high_  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna hold you I wanna love you tonight<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna satisfy I wanna make you cry<em>

_I know what I want and I know that I need it right now_  
><em>Gonna take you on a journey to a far away place now<em>  
><em>Gonna take you on a journey to a far away place now...uhhhhhhh<em>

_Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high_  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna hold you I wanna love you tonight<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna touch the sky I wanna fly so high<em>  
><em>Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I wanna satisfy I wanna make you cry<em>

_Ohhhh like a bird in the sky just a you and I_  
><em>I'm gonna fly like a bird in the sky just a you and I<em>  
><em>We're gonna fly like a bird in the sky just you and I<em>

_Repeat 4 x till fades_  
><em>I wanna love you now<em>  
><em>I wanna take you high<em>  
><em>I wanna give you everything that you desire<em>

_Ohhhhhh oooooooo oooooooooooooooooh yeah  
>Oh yeah oh yeah<em>

* * *

><p>The van soon came to a stop in the middle of the night somewhere in the desert. Skyler got up to see what happened.<p>

"Ah. Looks like we're out of gas." said Danny.

"I told you we should have filled up at that last station." said Tanya.

"That's why we brought extra cans of gas." Getting up from his seat, he noticed Skyler. "Oh. Don't worry sweety. I'll have this bus going again in just a few minutes." He got off the bus and grabbed a gas can from a luggage compartment. Skyler followed him off the bus and told him she was going to look around a minute and stretch her legs. She took a flashlight in case she found anything, or in case there were scorpions.

She walked around in circles for a few minutes, still keeping an eye on the van, which had the lights on so she wouldn't lose sight of it. "I don't know about getting on stage." Skyler was talking to herself. Her walk had given her time to think. "I mean, part of me can't wait to do it, but another part can't wait for it to be over. I mean…I do love singing, but I don't know if it's what I want as a career. I've just…always felt like I was meant for something bigger than that."

All of a sudden, a shooting star crashed right in front of her, scaring her a bit. But when she calmed down, she went over to it to look inside the crater. The smoke seemed to blow away as she approached. Inside were four small statuettes; a griffin, a turtle, a dragon with a unicorn's horn, and one that looked like the Greek god, Zeus. The statues were surrounding a round amulet with a purple, reddish glow.

As Skyler picked it up, it glowed a blinding white light. When it finally dimmed, she saw a diamond spiral in her hand. It still looked like it was glowing. "Wow." Skyler looked at the statues, then back at the spiral. "I just know I'm gonna regret this." She picked up the statues and headed back to the bus.

* * *

><p>Skyler woke up the next morning and looked out the window. They were right outside someone's old farm. Apparently, the bus broke down while they were traveling between Jefferson City and Denver. "I just hope it's not tornado season."<p>

"Why? What's that?"

"The worst time to be in…" Skyler suddenly realized she didn't recognize the voice that asked. She slowly turned around and saw who asked about tornado season. It was the unicorn/dragon statue from last night. Only it was no longer a statue. It was living flesh and blood. Her blue skin seemed to be scales underneath fur. Her wings were blue at the limbs, but white farther down the feathers.

Skyler screamed at the sight, then, her parents came on, worried by the scream. When Skyler pointed out the talking dragon, they all screamed as loud as they could, including the dragon.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!? Skyler asked.

"I don't know. I thought we were playing some kind of game." said the dragon.

"Well, who the heck are you?"

"My name is Whirlwind. I'm a Skylander, like them." whirlwind pointed over to the couch and Skyler looked back and forth between Whirlwind and the others. "The griffin is Sonic Boom, the turtle is Warnado, and the weather giant is Lightning Rod." she introduced the Skylanders as they looked at Skyler.

Sonic Boom looked like a typical griffin, expect with black feathers and fur, silver claws, and silver bracelets and a helmet with a swirl on it. Lightning Rod had big muscles under his blue skin, an orange beard and gold armbands. Warnado was a light blue turtle with spikes on his head and shell and claws on his feet.

"Ok. First, how'd you get in here?" said Skyler.

"Well, I don't really know. We just woke up here. I think we were frozen in statue form on our way to Earth." Rod replied.

"Ok. I'll ask about that later, but second, what the heck's a Skylander?"

"That's a long story." said Warnado.

"You see, a Skylander is a champion who's pledged to protect the world of Skylands, a planet entirely composed of floating islands in the sky." said Sonic.

"That explains the title. So what are you doing here?"

"We came here looking for you." answered Whirlwind. "The Core of Light, the only thing keeping the darkness from overtaking Skylands, has been destroyed by Kaos. He's an evil portal master who seeks to conquer Skylands."

"Well, what the heck is a portal master?"

"A sorcerer who can manipulate gateways in space, dimension, and even time. They can then send Skylanders and magic spells to the other side." Sonic responded.

"So why were you looking for me?" Skyler was really confused.

"We came here looking for eight portal masters. One of which is you. You, Skyler, are the portal master of air. Eon sent us to Earth to deliver the Skygems to you and the other seven portal masters."

"What? What's a Skygem? You've lost me again."

"It's the source of energy for your powers." said Sonic. "It's the diamond cloud you found last night."

Skyler went to her room and grabbed the amulet. She brought it back in there to show them. "This thing?"

"Yes. Skyler, I know it seems so much of us to ask of you right now, but we need your help. We need you to come back to Skylands with us." said Warnado.

"What?" said Tanya.

"Are you kidding?" said Danny.

"No. We wouldn't kid about this. Please Skyler. We must go meet up with the other Skylanders and portal masters." replied Whirlwind.

"Guys. I need a few minutes to wrap my head around this. I may not even go with you." Skyler walked off the bus, despite Warnado's attempt to stop her. Whirlwind sighed and shook her head.

"Please Skyler. We need your help."

* * *

><p>"Are they crazy?" Skyler was talking to herself as she walked around the corn field nearby. The wind was picking and the sky was getting darker. "How do they expect me to save their world? What are they thinking? What could I do to help?"<p>

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a blaring siren in the distance. There were sounds of people shouting and screaming, rushing to get inside. That's when Skyler realized what was happening. It was a tornado. Her parents ran off the bus over by the road, trying to get to her, but she was pretty far from the bus. She tried to make it to them, but the wind was knocking her off balance. Then, she looked up to her left and saw it, the swirling vortex in its path of destruction.

Out of instinct, she shot her hand towards the vortex with the palm facing it. Her hand and her eyes started to glow light blue. The glow around her hand looked like spinning clouds. As the tornado reached her, it stopped in its tracks and the same white glow spiraled up it's funnel. It picked itself up and pointed right into Skyler's Skygem, the Diamond Cloud. It detached from the sky and flowed into the amulet. She absorbed it. Releasing her newly discovered power, she felt dizzy for a second, then recovered as the sky cleared up and the siren was silenced.

Her knees felt wobbly from pure shock. She couldn't believe she had just completely prevented a natural disaster. Her parents finally reached her and made sure she was ok.

"Skyler! Are you alright?" said Tanya.

"Yeah, but I need to talk to those Skylanders again."

"So, you're really going?" asked Danny. Skyler had just told them that she was going to go with the Skylanders. Her parents were sitting on the couch trying to get a grip on the situation.

"Yeah. I don't think there's any choice. You saw what I did out there. Who knows what else I'm capable of." Skyler was leaning on the kitchen counter (It's a tour bus. It's pretty small.) telling them that she needed to do this.

Tanya and Danny looked at each other, went up to the driver's seat, and talked it over. Skyler looked nervous. She wasn't sure they were going to let her go through with this.

"Guys. I don't think they like this idea." she whispered to them.

"Just be patient Skyler. You don't know that." said Warnado.

Pretty soon, her parents came back in. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Danny asked her.

"I've never been so sure of anything else in my life." Skyler answered. Danny looked at Tanya. She nodded as he looked back at Skyler.

"I guess that passing the torch performance will have to wait." he said.

Skyler hugged her parents as if she'd never see them again. She eventually broke from the embrace and went to her room to get packed.

* * *

><p>It took a while to find, but Skyler and her parents eventually found a car rental place. They took the rental car back to where the bus broke down, packed Skyler's bags into it, and said their goodbyes.<p>

"Bye mom." she said.

"Good luck." Tanya answered. "Be careful out there."

"I will." She turned to her dad. "Bye dad."

"Bye. Come home safely." Danny responded.

"I will." Skyler gave her parents one last hug and got in the car. Driving off, she looked back at her parents, a tear starting to come to her eye.

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with this thing?" Skyler had to stop in the middle of a four way intersection after about an hour of driving. Whirlwind had told her to follow the Diamond Cloud to meet the others, but now it was just spinning.<p>

"Wait a minute. I think we're here." said Whirlwind.

"What do you mean?" Skyler got out and looked all over the place, but didn't see anything. "There's no one here. I thought you said I was supposed to meet the other Skylanders here."

"You are. You just got here first." Whirlwind looked in the direction of the sound of a motorcycle reving. "Look. There's one of them now."

Skyler looked and saw the headlight of a motorcycle approaching. About a second later, other lights could be seen from the other directions. It was the other seven portal masters. Skyler was a little nervous. She didn't know what to expect from this group of people.

* * *

><p><strong>How about that? Nice twist right? I know this chapter was a little short, but it's the best I could come up with for Skyler. Alright. That's all my characters. Next time, the group arrives in Skylands and tangles with another tornado, one that Skyler's powers can't stop.<strong>


	10. The Team Unites

**Chapter 9; The Team Unites**

**Sorry about the long wait guys. This semester has been killing me. Well, I was going to have them on the entire Shattered Islands level, but the chapter ran to about twenty pages, so I'm going to split the Shattered Islands chapter in half. If the other chapters take twenty pages to write, I'm not going to split them in half. I'm going to add more to the Shattered Islands to include a battle with the Dark Skylanders. Either way, I'm going to start with a small sneak peek at them.**

**Also, to the reviewer who posted a description of two characters he made, while I appreciate the attempt to help, I have already decided on all of my characters and it's too late to add anymore. Besides, there is no way I could fit them in my story anyway. They don't fit any Skylands element. So I would prefer that if you're going to review, do not try and add characters to my story unless otherwise requested. I am, however, considering adding Skylanders to the Giants story with the following themes; Vikings, Egypt, Atlantis, and Christmas.**

* * *

><p>Zeke stepped through the mirror into a depressing stone chamber, lit dimly only by the burning torches along the walls. Making his way down the corridor, you would think he would be nervous about meeting his master again. But Zeke's face had almost no emotion, save for boredom. Arriving at the portal chamber, he knelt before Kaos, who was standing at the edge of a large circular altar with a red disc of swirling light in the middle.<p>

"Master Kaos, I fear that by now, the Portal Masters have joined. Or at least, they are on their way to do so." he said.

"Do you think I'm unaware of that you fool?" replied the short warlock. "Those infuriating portal masters are going to ruin my plans! They must be destroyed as soon as possible!"

"I swear master, I have my team of Outlanders prepared."

"That band of misfits? You must be deranged. Those meddling Skylanders defeated them once before. What makes you think the same won't happen this time?"

"My Outlanders are stronger now. And they each faced the Skylanders alone. Eon's Skylanders haven't reached their full powers yet. With the group I've assembled, the Skylanders and their portal masters are finished."

"See that they are. No mistakes. Return to your chamber and prepare to attack."

"Of course Master." Zeke stood up and left. Walking to his room, he started talking to himself, looking behind him first to make sure Kaos wouldn't hear him.

"Pathetic. How much longer must I serve under my inferior?" he whispered. "No matter. Time is of no consequence to me. Only power. I will soon have the dark energy necessary. For now, my powers are too weak to carry out my plans." Zeke pushed open the doors to a large room, like a military cabin for eight giants. Zeke stood on a balcony overlooking the lower chambers, each of which held a monstrous figure.

"Outlanders!" Zeke yelled to them. The shadowed titans stirred and turned to their master.

"What is it Zeke?" said a ghostly voice. It was coming from some strange floating sphere.

"Unfortunately, the portal masters have joined."

"Ugh. Ah great. Now we've actually gotta fight them." said a metallic voice. That one came from some sort of vehicle. All of the Outlanders started grumbling by now.

"Outlanders!" shouted Zeke. The Outlanders grew quiet as he called their attention. "Each of you has faced at least one of the Skylanders before in your past. And what happened?" He paused for them to think about it. "That's right. They took everything from each of you. But how about now? You have all become much more powerful. Before, you faced the Skylanders separately. But now, you will face them together." The Outlanders cheered in rage, thrilled at the sound of revenge.

"Prepare your weapons and powers. When the Skylanders arrive…WE FIGHT!" He shot up his hand, cracking with dark energy, and they sounded their cry of war once again, then, slowly lowering his hand, he muttered one last thing. "But the portal masters are mine."

* * *

><p>"I think we're here." said Spyro from Max's shoulder. He was approaching the site where he and the other portal masters were supposed to meet up. One of them was already there. The others were closing in as fast as he was. A car had started to follow him a few miles back, and this close to his destination, he was ready to assume that it was one of the others. He soon came to the intersection and all the cars stopped at once, and there was also a truck. Skyler stepped into the middle of the intersection, luckily there was no one else there, knowing they were stopping.<p>

Max got off his bike, took off his helmet, and approached the Air portal master. "You're lucky there's no traffic out here." he joked.

Skyler turned to him. "Very funny." she replied.

Skyler looked around as the others stepped out of their cars too. Woody had come up from behind Marissa, Rocky and Tess had apparently been headed down the same road, Ry's car parked behind Skyler's, and Dana's car had been following Max for a few miles.

"I'm guessing we're all here for the same reason." Max said as he pulled out the Amethyst Star. Skyler did the same with the Diamond Cloud as Dana revealed her Onyx Skull and so on with the others.

"So. We're the lucky eight?" Rocky asked. Their Skylanders started to swarm out of their hiding places as the portal masters confirmed their identities to each other.

"None of you are what I expected." said Marissa.

"What did you expect?" Woody asked.

"Personally, I had no idea what to expect." Dana responded. She looked at Max for a second. When Max looked back at her, she looked away very quickly, as if caught off guard.

"So I'm stuck with you guys?" said Ry. He stopped for a second. He looked at Skyler from behind and thought he recognized her. He shook it off after a second. "No offense, but I prefer to work alone."

"Well, you'd better learn to play well with others." Skyler turned to face him. "Because like it or not, we're in this together." Then, she stopped as a confused look came to her. "Do I know you?"

"I don't know, but you do look familiar. I'm Ryan, but I usually go by Ry."

"Ry? Ryan Embers?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I do know you. I was in fifth grade with you. It's me, Skyler."

Ry was shocked. Skyler was the last person he expected to meet as a portal master.

"Hate to be Captain Obvious here," Rocky interrupted. "But as far as I can tell, this isn't exactly Skylands." He looked at Tess. "I'm Rocky by the way."

"Name's Tess." she responded.

"Good point. How exactly are we going to get there? It's not like mister Fast and Furious here can drive us there." Woody was referring to the Mustang. He could tell by that and the leather jacket that Ry was a city boy.

"Cool your jets Farmer Brown. We'll figure something out." Ry had quickly clued into Woody being from the south. It was immediately obvious that they weren't going to get along that well.

"It's Woody. And what did you have in mind Speed Racer?" said Woody.

"Maybe if you shut up before I…"

"HEY!" Marissa yelled. "Save the fighting for this Kaos guy. We're supposed to be a team."

"She's right." said Max. "My Skylanders told me that we're portal masters. We can manipulate gateways in time and space. All we should have to do is concentrate and we're there."

"Sounds good, but how will we know where we're going?" Skyler asked.

"Leave that to us." Spyro answered. "We came from Skylands. We'll be able to zero in on it."

"Well, that answers that." Tess commented.

"One more thing. There's one thing we need to figure out." Rocky pointed out. He held up his Garnet Mountain. "Our powers. Our Skylanders all said that each of us has the power of a different Skylands element. I don't know about you guys, but I'm dying to know what those are."

"Good point, but most of our powers are kind of obvious." said Marissa. "Ry has fire, you have Earth, Skyler has Air, Tess has Tech, Mine is water, and…" She turned to Woody, but didn't know his name. "I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"Woody, portal master of Life. As in plants." he answered.

"Oh yeah. A nice big tree will have Kaos shaking in his boots." Ry said sarcastically. Skyler slapped him upside the head to tell him not to be a jerk.

"Got it. I'm Marissa by the way." Marissa said, smiling at him for a second, then looked at the last two. "But what about you guys?" She pointed at Max and Dana. "Your Skygems look like a star and a skull. What are your elements?"

"Well, I'm Max, Portal Master of Magic."

"Whoa! Sweet!" said Rocky. He looked at Dana. "What about you?"

"Oh. I'm Dana, Portal Master of…the Undead."

"AUGH!" Rocky ducked behind Tess.

"What?" said Tess, looking at him like he was an idiot.

"Did you just say your element was the undead?" said Ry.

"What kind of good guy can do that? What's she going to do, make zombies to fight for her?" said Skyler.

"Enough!" shouted Max. "Undead is one of the Skylands elements. Apparently, it's been that way for a couple thousand years. This Eon guy sent each of the Skygems to one of us for a reason. If her Skygem landed where she would be, obviously choosing her, that's enough for me."

Dana looked at him, almost smiling. Aside from her stepdad, no one had ever stood up for her before.

"Whatever." said Ry. "So how do we get the heck out of here?"

"It's simple." said Spyro. "All you guys have to do is focus and combine your powers."

"That's it? What do we focus on?" Max added.

"Leave that to us. We know how to get there." said Cynder.

"Alright. Let's do it." The group stepped into a circle as their Skylanders went back to their pockets. The portal masters joined hands and closed their eyes. As they concentrated their energy, their amulets started to glow one by one. The glow brightened as the strength of the spell they were about to cast increased dramatically.

Suddenly, eight columns of lights flashed into the sky, carrying with them the Skylanders and portal masters. They disappeared without a trace. Even their bags had disappeared.

Max felt helpless as he shot up through Earth's atmosphere and watched it shrink as he further left his home. But then he looked up and saw the Skylands, a broken planet with clouds where its oceans should have been. As it grew before his eyes, he quickly shielded his face from the impact.

They all soon crashed on a small island with a windmill on it. That was all they noticed however, as they instantly felt completely drained, as if that spell had taken every ounce of their strength. They quickly lost consciousness, ending with Max, whom, as he fell into the darkness of sleep, saw a small gerbil-like creature standing over him.

* * *

><p>"ZEKE!" yelled Kaos. The dark apprentice walked into Kaos' sanctum.<p>

"Yes master?" he said.

"Those blasted portal masters just arrived. They're on the Shattered Islands. Destroy them now! They are drained from the spell they used to get here. Get rid of them before they can recover."

"At once my lord." said Zeke. He walked out of the room and headed back for his.

"Some all powerful emperor of Skylands." he said to himself. "If he's such a strong portal master, why does he need me to destroy the Skylanders?" He finally entered his room and stood at the balcony overlooking the Outlanders.

"Outlanders!" he shouted. "The time has come! Ready your powers! We move now!" The gang of villains cheered as loud as they could below as Zeke went to a wardrobe. He opened it to reveal a suit of black armor, Above it was an axe with a depiction of an evil looking purple dragon on the blade. There was also a dark purple gem in the top of the weapon's handle. As Zeke took it, it started making whispering sounds.

"At last. My time has come." he whispered back.

* * *

><p>"Ugh." Max groaned as he finally started to wake up. He noticed he was indoors this time. Last thing he remembered, they had been outside. He and the other portal masters were in some kind of makeshift infirmary with a cot for each of them. "What happened?" he said.<p>

"Oh good. You're finally up." said a voice from the front door. The small gerbil man he saw earlier came up to him. The others were starting wake up too. The gerbil only came up to his waist. "My name is Hugo. I've been waiting for all of you."

"A talking gerbil? Ok. This is getting weird." said Skyler.

"I'm a mabu Skyler." Hugo annoyedly pointed out.

"I'm just going to assume Eon told you our names like he did our Skylanders." said Max. "What's going on here?"

"I'd like to know that myself." Dana added.

"Yeah. What happened?" said Ry. "I thought Spyro said we could get to Skylands."

"You did." said Spyro. The others turned to see him at his full size. He was taller than Hugo, but only a bit. Cynder came in as well.

"Whoa!" said Woody. "When did he…"

"When we entered Skylands, whatever made us smaller and frozen must have reversed." said Cynder.

"Ooookaaaay." said Rocky, raising an eyebrow. "Then why do I feel like I just had a run in with Dracula and a swarm of leeches?"

"You haven't gotten the hang of your powers yet. It's going to take some time to get a grip on them." said Hugo.

"What do you mean? I made a wall of fire before I came here." said Ry.

"I made zombies that drained these two punks' life force." said Dana.

"Yikes. Remind me not to get on your bad side." said Rocky.

"Too late." remarked Tess.

"And while we're on that subject, I actually stopped time." said Max.

"Ok. He wins." said Rocky.

"The effects you felt while you were doing that were jump started by your powers activating. Plus, they were triggered by impulse and adrenaline. It was a kind of proof to convince you to come here. Not to mention the energy the spell generated when the gems landed on Earth." Hugo explained.

"Well it makes sense." said Marissa. "I probably wouldn't have come here otherwise."

Woody looked at her. "Why? Did something happen?"

"No. Just forget I said anything." She got up. "So what do we do now?"

Hugo turned to face her. "We have to get to Eon's palace. We won't be able to restore the Core of Light from here."

"Why not? And where exactly are we?" Rocky asked. "And don't say Skylands. That's pretty obvious by now."

"We're on the Shattered Islands. Eon's palace still has the hidden temple and the gates to your lairs. You'll be able to conduct missions, study any items you find, and practice with your powers there at any time."

"Lairs? What the heck is a lair?" said Woody.

"We'll have time to show you as soon as we get there. But we have to hurry." Hugo answered. "My friend Flynn is waiting for us outside with your bags." He pushed the door open and walked outside, motioning for the portal masters to follow. They did and saw all the Skylanders hanging around the yard of the windmill. There was also another, larger mabu standing next to an airship.

"Are these the 'portal masters' who you said were coming?" said Flynn.

Hugo was about to answer when he was interrupted by the sounds of screaming. There were dozens of mabu running away from something.

"Look!" shouted Skyler. They all looked towards the sky, the source of the mabus' fear. A huge tornado was heading towards the Shattered Islands. If not stopped, it was going to decimate the entire settlement..

"Oh dear!" shouted Hugo. "I've never seen a storm like this in Skylands."

"Wait a minute. Look closer." said Ry. He pointed and showed them bolts of lightning flashing within the vortex. Not the occasional bolt, it was a constant barrage of electricity.

"He's right. Either Tornadoes in Skylands have a lot of lightning inside or that twister's being fueled by magic." said Max.

"Wait a minute." said Tess. She ran over to the airship and dug a pair of binoculars out of her bag. She looked and saw another twister, but it wasn't touching the ground, opening wide, or even moving except for the top of the vortex flowing into the larger. "Whoever's causing this, they're doing it from there." Tess handed the binoculars to Max as he looked at the storm.

"We'd better get out of here. The villagers are evacuating, so maybe we should too." said Max. He was about to run when he heard a siren and looked back at the town. He used the binoculars again and saw even more mabu trapped inside the town by the debris blocking the gates. "Those villagers are still trapped in there. We gotta get them out." He dropped the binoculars and started to head down there.

"What?!" shouted Dana.

"Are you out of your mind?!" yelled Ry.

"Look!" said Max. "Those people need our help and we're the only ones who can save them. I'm going to find out who's making that tornado and stop them."

"But we just recovered from being drained a few minutes ago!" said Rocky.

"Skyler," he said to the Air portal master. "You absorbed a tornado. Right? Can't you do something about this one?"

"That was a fluke!" Skyler shouted. "And you heard what Hugo said. Whatever we did with our powers was jump started by being activated. There's no way I can do that now!"

"Well, we gotta try something!" said Max. "Flynn, Hugo, move the airship to that cliff up there. We'll meet you after we've evacuated the villagers. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going." He walked off towards the village as his Skylanders followed. After exchanging looks, starting with Dana, the other portal masters ran off after him, their Skylanders following suit.

As soon as they got to the village, the main bridge was smashed out of nowhere by a massive boulder. The only escape route was the side road, but it was completely closed off by a wall of boulders.

"Great plan genius." said Ry. "Any ideas?"

"By the Ancients. The portal masters!" A mabu from a nearby watch tower had seen them from his station. "I knew you were coming. We need your help. All the townspeople are trapped inside."

"Don't worry. We're here to get you guys out of here." Spyro shouted to the guard.

"Yeah. But how do we even get inside?" said Dana.

"We need to clear those walls. We'd better focus all of our attack power on the wall's base." Max got the team's attention. "Our Skylanders have got to have some kinds of powers that can clear obstacles."

"It's too big!" shouted Tess.

"You passed a cannon on the way here." said the guard. "My weapon smith friend was making it for a siege engine. It's fully functional. You can use its explosive shells to blast through the wall."

"It'll have to do." said Ry. He took off for the cannon, followed by the others. The Skylanders cleared out, except for the Fire Skylanders. They went to stand with Ry. "Good. There's a fuse I can light…if my powers were working."

"Well, aim it first." said Tess. Rocky and Woody grabbed the front of the gun while Tess climbed on top of it. The life and earth portal masters moved the cannon's barrel around while Tess gave directions. "Ok stop!" She jumped down as Rocky and Woody held it steady. "Someone light it."

"I'll do it." said Sunburn. The phoenix/dragon breathed a burst of fire on the fuse, but it consumed the string down to where the shot was. The cannon fired in a second, obliterating the lower center of the wall, creating an exit big enough for the other mabu to escape through. They ran out of the city cheering for their rescuers.

The portal masters, and their Skylanders rushed into the hole, checking for anyone still trapped in the city. Afterwards, they all met back up to make sure the village had been evacuated.

"That's everyone." said Marissa.

"Where's the cliff Flynn was going to land on?" Woody asked.

"There it is." Rocky pointed the cliff out. He led them to it, but it had a pretty steep side.

"Looks pretty high up." said Dana.

"Allow me." said Double Trouble. He went to the base of the cliff and shot a beam at the ground out of his staff. A blue circle formed around the beam. It became some sort of metallic disc overflowing with pulses of blue energy. "Just jump on top of this bounce pad and you'll bounce as high as you want."

"Whoa. How'd you do that?" said Max.

"Eon taught it to me. He used to do it all the time for when something was too high for us to reach, but we were too short on time to fly to it ourselves."

"Double, you rock." Max jumped onto the pad and skyrocketed up to the cliff. The other portal masters and Skylanders followed him up one by one. Pretty soon, the whole team was at the top.

"Man! That thing looks even worse up close." said Flynn.

"It's still a few miles away, but it's getting pretty close." said Skyler.

"Did everyone get out of the village?" said Max.

"Almost." said Hugo. "Look down there." He pointed down where the palace was, or used to be. "The royal family has been locked on their first floor balcony, right in the tornado's path."

Max looked at the palace. "We'll have to get the ship as close as we can. Then…"

"Look out!" shouted Flynn. A huge boulder crashed right into the side of the cliff, shaking them all off. Flynn grabbed Hugo and took off with the airship as a gust of blasting winds started to blow them in the opposite direction.

The Skylanders fell off the left side of the cliff, right back into the village. The bounce pad had disappeared, but it didn't matter. The cliff had been completely destroyed.

"Come on!" shouted Spyro. "We need to find the portal masters." Spyro took off, leading the other Skylanders back through the village to find another way to the palace.

The portal masters fell off the other side, plunging into a large, oddly shaped crater.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry about the cliff hanger. (haha) I just thought it was about time for me to post the next chapter. The good news is I'm about halfway done, at this point, with Zeke's theme song scene in the next chapter.<strong>

**The next chapter should be up sooner than usual, because I just used the second half of this chapter, but I am about to get back to work on my Xiaolin Showdown/Chaotic crossover.**

**One more thing, I hate to do this, but I can't get Skylanders Giants for a while. Blame my parents. It's a long story. I have a Skylanders, Spyro's Universe account and I can't expand my Skyland without more Skylanders. I'm planning on using stuff from the online game in my story, such as the lairs, trees, and whatever else you can use to customize your Skyland. **

**Here's my request. If you have Skylanders Giants, but don't play Skylanders Universe and don't plan on starting to, I'd like for you to send me the codes for your figures. This includes all the series 2 figures, alternate decos, and lightcores, as well as the following series 1 figures; Camo, Zook, Prism Break, Wham Shell, Warnado, Lightning Rod, Boomer, Dark Spyro, and all the Legendaries.**

**Just make sure you're absolutely sure you don't want to play Skylanders Universe. And don't post the code in a review. Do it in a private message. The code, regardless of which character it is, is unique to each figure. Two Spyro figures, exact matches, will most likely have different codes. If you enter the code in your Skylanders Universe account, it's registered for you alone. No one else can enter the code.**


	11. The Outlanders

**Chapter 10; The Outlanders**

**Just a heads up about Zeke's theme song. It's a Rob Zombie song.**

* * *

><p>"UGH!" Max and the others hit the floor of the crater hard. They groaned randomly in soreness, brushing dust and grass off themselves.<p>

"Someone needs to stop cutting their grass around here. Dirt is a lot harder than it looks." said Rocky.

"Shut up. This is a big problem." said Tess. "How do we get out of here?"

Rocky's eyes widened as he saw something. "Does anyone have a key?"

"Oh brother. Where would we use it?" Tess said agitatedly.

Rocky pointed. "I'm guessing on that thing." The others turned and saw what grabbed his attention. A gigantic gate of wooden beams stretched to the top of the hole. The ground was cut all the way to the bottom so that anything inside could get out, provided the gate would open.

"Whoa. This is strangely convenient, but let's not waste time asking questions. Someone help me find the key." said Ry. He started looking around and digging through the dirt.

"Look up there." said Skyler. She pointed at a strange shield with crow wings and crossed swords in front. "That thing's not even touching the bars."

"It's the closest thing to a lock I can see on this thing." said Woody.

"It's gotta be locked by magic. Any ideas Max? That's your department." said Dana.

Max was silent, rubbing his chin with a focused look on his face. "This is too convenient." he said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ry asked.

"Why would someone go through all the trouble of making that huge hole in this crater. And it's almost perfectly round, as if it was made for some kind of event or structure."

"He's right. This is no natural occurrence. The dirt's been shoveled out. It looks like a crater, but there's no scorch marks, smoke, or even something in the center." said Rocky.

"This is no pit. This is an arena. But why would someone make this unless they knew something would end up in here through the giant opening?" asked Skyler.

"That tornado must have had really good aim to knock us off that cliff." Rocky joked.

"Ok. If you make ONE MORE JOKE…" Tess was about to punch Rocky before Max intervened.

"WAIT! He's right."

"HA! Wait. What?" Rocky was about to gloat, but he was confused.

"Whoever made that tornado knew we'd be here to stop them. And they knew we'd be on that cliff, so they threw that boulder to separate us from the Skylanders."

"But why would they make such a big trap for the eight of us?" said Dana. "They must have been trying to get the Skylanders."

"But can't some of them fly?" said Tess. "At least eight of them would have been able to get out or get the rest out through that opening. Max is right. Someone made this trap for us."

"But why such a big arena?" said Ry.

Rocky heard some dirt slide. He turned around to see something strange. "Guys. The walls are moving."

The others looked up and backed up to the center, standing back to back. "You think they're trying to bury us alive?" said Marissa.

"No. Something's moving under there." said Woody.

He was right. As soon as he said that, a little green monster popped its head out of the slope and hissed viciously. It had eyes on stalks, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, and big hands with sharper looking claws. Their feet and legs looked designed for jumping. One by one, more of the little monsters started to pop out of the sand.

"They're feeding us to these things." said Skyler.

"What do we do?" asked Tess.

Suddenly, a ball of light swooped down from the sky. The monsters seemed to be scared of it, as they backed away from the portal masters upon seeing it.

"Use your Skygems young portal masters." An aged voice boomed from the light, circling the portal masters. "Defeat the chompies to open the gate." The light gave them this last piece of advice before ascending again.

"Wait!" shouted Skyler. "Who was that? Can we trust him?"

"You got a better idea?" said Ry.

"Let's do it." said Max. He pulled out his Skygem and held it out. "Amethyst Star!" The gem flashed with a blinding light. When it faded, it was replaced by a wooden staff with a strange language carved into the rod. The Skygem had moved up to the end of the staff.

"No way!" said Rocky.

"Finally! Something cool happens here." said Ry.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You don't expect me to take these things out by myself do you?" said Max before he spun his staff above his head and charged at the chompies, slamming the staff down and unleashing a shockwave of light at them.

"Save some for me. Topaz Cog!" Tess's gem changed into a pair of golden submachine guns, the left of which had the gem on its side.

"Sapphire Drop!" Marissa's gem became a blue trident with waves etched up the handle, the gem at the bottom end, and a fork of icy blue metal.

"Ruby Flame!" Ry's gem transformed into a red sword with dancing flames etched into the scarlet blade. The handle and pommel were designed as a dragon's neck while the hilt resembled phoenix wings. The gem had moved to the center of the handguard.

"Garnet Mountain!" Rocky's gem turned into two stone gauntlets with three gems on the knuckles. When he made a fist, the gems turned into crystal shards. The Skygem was still on the back of his left hand of the gauntlet.

"Emerald Leaf!" Woody's gem morphed into a whip with a bronze handle designed to look like wood, a long green vine with silver thorns all along its length, and the gem itself at the pommel. The vine was curled up in his hand, but none of the thorns would hurt him.

"Onyx Skull!" Dana's gem became a large black scythe with a bone-like rod and a menacing looking silver blade. The gem had moved to where the blade met the rod.

"Diamond Cloud!" Skyler's gem changed into a powerful bow with a light blue quiver of white feathered arrows on her back. The bow itself was light blue with two eagle wings as the arms and an eagle's head at the center where the arrow was supposed to go. Just a small length above that, the gem moved to where an aiming lens would be.

"Portal Masters, Attack!" shouted Max. He and the others fought the chompies with renewed courage. Tess attacked with sprays of rapid-fire bullets, whereas Rocky attacked by punching and slashing them. Skyler's arrows were very effective for keeping them at a distance and Ry's sword attacks had an area of effect attack, like setting a certain spot on fire as the chompies stepped on it. Marissa's trident was able to freeze the chompies by impaling them. Then, it could shoot them at other chompies with a blast of water. Woody's whip was able to grab the little beasts and throw them around. Dana's scythe could cut right through them, turning them into dust. Max's staff could not only block their biting attacks, but also shoot lasers from it.

It wasn't long before the last of the chompies were defeated. "We did it!" shouted Rocky. His gauntlets turned back into his Skygem and the others' weapons did the same thing. The strange crest on the gate vanished and the wooden bars quickly dropped back down into the earth.

Spyro slid to a stop right outside. "I found them!" he shouted to the other Skylanders. They all rushed in at once, happy to be reunited with their portal masters.

"Come on guys. We gotta go. Did you pass the palace on your way here?" said Max.

"Yeah. it's just a few yards from here." said Gill Grunt.

"Then let's go." Max and the other portal masters started running for the palace, the Skylanders following.

* * *

><p>When they got to the palace, or what was left of it, they had boomer blow open the doors into the ballroom, where the ceiling was gone.<p>

"There they are!" shouted Rocky. He pointed at the big, locked gate at the end of the room. The royal family was shouting and screaming, trying to get inside.

"Please! Help us!" the king said.

"Don't worry. We'll get you out of there!" Max started to make a run for the gate, but an explosion of black energy knocked him backwards. A cloud of black energy hid something from sight, but a shadowed figure slowly stepped towards the edge of the fog. As he walked out of the darkness, his form was revealed. It was Zeke in the armor he had in his room. He was carrying a large axe with a dark purple gem in the handle.

"Going somewhere?" he said shrewdly. The fog was slowly starting to clear. The shapes of the Outlanders were almost visible.

Dana dashed to help Max, but was shocked to see Zeke here. "Zeke!? What the hell are you doing here?"

"You know this psycho?" said Rocky.

"Unfortunately, yes. He's my ex-boyfriend."

"What!?" shouted Ry, with Marissa and Skyler with him.

"Are you serious?" Rocky and Tess shouted in unison.

"Boy do you know how to pick 'em." said Woody.

"Ex? So you don't mind if I send him to another dimension?" said Max as he got up.

"Go ahead. I've had enough of this jerk." said Dana coldly.

"Dana Dana Dana. I came all the way here, just to see you, and you're not happy to see me? Didn't you miss me at all?" said Zeke as he slowly paced back and forth a little.

"Not in the least. You wouldn't have gotten whatever dark powers you just used if you only came to see me. You shouldn't have even known I was here."

"Alright." He threw up his hands, still holding the axe. "I confess." He lowered his hands. "I am the apprentice of Lord Kaos."

"Lord Kaos?" said Max. "We'll see about that. Prepare to fight." Max activated his staff.

Zeke smirked. "I don't think you fully understand the gravity of the situation. I may look like a solo act, but I'm not alone." A green beam shot from the cloud at Max. He blocked it with a shield from his staff, but barely. The smoke finally cleared and Spyro gasped at the sight. Standing behind Zeke, in front of him, was almost every villain he'd ever faced. He recognized almost every last one of them.

At least half of them were enemies from his past. The Ice King, an armored giant with horns and weapons of ice. Stone Sentinel, a huge walking Aztec statue. Steam, a purple metal train with glowing orange energy within. Arborick, a giant made entirely of wood. Skabb, a wolf pirate with a gatling gun for a peg leg and a treasure chest on his back. Vathek, an undead dragon with orange fire burning all throughout his body, which is weird because the fire was blue the first time.

The worst one was one of Spyro's and Cynder's biggest nightmares. With purple menacing armor, two big swords crossed on his back, and an evil shaped staff in his hand, not to mention the green glowing left eye, Spyro and Cynder knew instantly who it was. It was Gaul the Ape King.

The last one, Spyro didn't recognize, but Ghost Roaster did. It was Occulous, a floating eyeball with three bony tentacles under him.

Max looked at Spyro's shocked expression. "You ok?" he said. When Spyro didn't answer, Max shook him a little bit to snap him out of it.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Let's get these guys." he said.

**Dragula by Rob Zombie**

"Suit yourself." said Zeke. He got his axe ready as the gem started sparking with dark energy.

_(Superstition now at channels here)_

Max got into a fighting stance. "You have no idea what we're capable of." He and the others grabbed their Skygems and activated their weapons.

All eight of the Outlanders pulled out their weapons and grunted loudly for the fight. The Skylanders prepared to fight too, but without the grunting.

Kaos was watching the fight through his portal in his fortress. "OOOH! Glumshanks! Get the popcorn!"

"Right away master." said Glumshanks, sarcastically.

"Last chance to walk away." said Max.

"I don't walk away until you're dead." said Zeke.

_Dead I am the one  
><em>**Zeke smirks as his power builds.  
><strong>_Exterminate his son  
><em>_Slipping through the trees  
><em>**He gets the axe into position.  
><strong>_Strangling the breeze_

Zeke swung his axe, firing a wave of dark magic at the portal masters. They jumped, but the blast scattered their Skylanders. Each Outlander charged for the Skylanders of their matching elements, cutting them off from the Portal masters. Zeke wanted to take them himself.

_Dead I am the sky  
><em>**Zeke fired spheres of dark energy, but Skyler shot them out with wind arrows.  
><strong>_Watchin' angels fry  
><em>_While they slowly turn  
><em>**Then, he fired a large beam that she barely dodged.  
><strong>_Conquering the worm_

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Skabb slashed at Lightning Rod with his sword,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**tackled Sonic Boom through the air,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**shot Warnado with his gun leg,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and grabbed and threw Whirlwind with his extending hook hand.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Vathek tail lashed Ignitor,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**punched Flameslinger with a blazing wing joint,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**stepped on Eruptor,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and blasted Sunburn with a ball of fire.**

"You can't win." Zeke taunted.

"I can try." said Max.

"You'll never learn will you?"

_Dead I am the pools  
><em>**Zeke started to clash blades with Ry,  
><strong>_Spreading from the fools  
><em>_We can watch you knead  
><em>**knocked him out, and charged at Marissa  
><strong>_Nowhere as you bleed  
><em>**Zeke pushes down on Marissa so hard she's starting to lose steam.**

**She kicks him off and creates a tidal wave that knocks him back.**

_Dead I am the rat  
><em>**He gets up and repeats Ry's sword fight with Max.  
><strong>_Feast upon the cat  
><em>_Tender is the fur  
><em>**Max teleports behind Zeke,  
><strong>_Dying as you purr  
><em>**and blasts him with his staff.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Stone Sentinel punched Prism Break,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**kicked Terrafin,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**knocked Dino Rang out with a boulder,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and hit Bash with a small scale earthquake.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Steam shot a crushing blade wheel at Trigger Happy,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**shot energy blasts from his caboose at Boomer,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**launched fireballs from his smokestack at Drill Sergeant,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and charged full force at Drobot.**

_Do it baby  
><em>**Tess started bombarding Zeke with machine gun fire,  
><strong>_Do it baby  
><em>

**But the dark portal master just blocked the bullets with his axe.**

_Do it baby  
><em>**Then, Rocky punched the ground and threw Zeke right into the air,  
><strong>_Do it baby  
><em>_Burn like an animal  
><em>**making him an easier target for the guns, but he teleported behind Tess and whacked her with the axe.**

**Zeke slammed his axe on the ground to send a shockwave of dark energy at Rocky.**

_Dead I am the life  
><em>**Woody used his whip to grab Zeke and swing him around.  
><strong>_Dig into the skin  
><em>_Knuckle crack the bone  
><em>**Then, he threw him at Dana,  
><strong>_Twenty one to win  
><em>**who was getting her scythe ready.**

**Zeke vanished the second Dana swung, then reappeared behind her and blasted her away.**

_Dead I am the dog  
><em>**Zeke fired another dark beam at Max,  
><strong>_Hound of hell you cry  
><em>**who was spinning his staff fast enough to create a disk of light.  
><strong>_Devil on your back  
><em>**Then, Zeke fired a volley of projectiles that circled around,  
><strong>_I can never die  
><em>**and hit Max from behind.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Ice King slashed at Wham Shell,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**knocked Slam Bam away with his shield,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**blasted ice shards at Gill Grunt,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and assaulted Zap with a blizzard.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Arborick stomped on Stump Smash,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**snapped at Zook with vine whips,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**slammed his fist on Stealth Elf,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and fired a barrage of wooden spikes at Camo.**

_Do it baby  
><em>**Dana stuck her scythe in the ground, summoning zombies.  
><strong>_Do it baby_

_Do it baby  
><em>**But Zeke slashed through them.  
><strong>_Do it baby  
><em>_Burn like an animal_

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Occulus fired a laser at Chop Chop,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**smacked Ghost Roaster away with a bone tentacle,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**summoned two skeletons that knocked out Hex,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and teleported behind Cynder before unleashing a scream into her mind.**

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**Gaul shot Wrecking Ball with his eye laser,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>**blasted Double Trouble with a lightning bolt from his staff,  
><strong>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**slashed at Voodood with his swords,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**and attacked Spyro with his clawed gauntlets.**

Seeing his Outlanders' victory over the Skylanders, Zeke smirked at Max, saying "We'll finish this later." before backflipping to stand with the Outlanders.

_Dig through the ditches and  
><em>**A black energy fog started to surround the Outlanders from their feet,  
><strong>_Burn through the witches  
><em>_An' slam in the back of my  
><em>**Max fired an energy blast at them,  
><strong>_Dragula  
><em>**but it missed as they vanished without a trace.**

"We lost them!" Ry slammed his sword on the floor. His and the others' weapons changed back into their amulet forms.

"Let's just get out of here!" said Max. His staff hadn't changed back yet, so he fired a laser at the lock on the door to the balcony, freeing the royal family. They started running out as Flynn and Hugo pulled the airship closer. The portal masters and their Skylanders swarmed onto the blimp.

* * *

><p>As they took off, the portal masters watched as the tornado finally crushed the remains of the palace with ferocious winds.<p>

Dana looked like she was on the verge of tears, at least until Max stood with her. "I can see why you dumped him." he said.

She started to smile a little bit, but looked back at the tornado tearing its way through the rest of the village.

"This is just the beginning." said Ry.

"And we're clearly not ready." Skyler added.

"Don't worry." Max interrupted. "We will be."

**Please read the entire paragraph below before commenting.**

**I hate to have to do this, but I don't have a choice. I need to ask you guys to send me the online codes for your Series 2 Skylanders figures, even the alternate colors, plus the following series one figures; Wham Shell, Prism Break, Warnado, Lightning Rod, Boomer, Zook, Camo, Dark Spyro, and all of the Legendaries. **

**My mom's not gonna let me get Skylanders Giants or the next one, Skylanders Swap Force. I would have let it go if she had only said it would be too expensive, but she also added that she thought it was too childish. I can't stand it when she says that about something I like. Just make sure you send me the code in a Private Message, not in a review. The codes are different for each figure. And two of the same character, even if they're exactly the same, could have the same code as another. And make sure that you're absolutely sure you're not going to play Skylanders Universe online before you send me the code. Once you enter the code for a figure, it won't work for anyone else.**


	12. The Ruins

**Chapter 11; The Ruins**

**Sorry about the wait. I've been really busy with school lately, but I'm finally done. I just graduated. Anyway, the scene I'm going to start this with was actually supposed to be in the last chapter. But I jumped the gun when I finished the fight scene with Zeke. Thanks for the heads up about Skylanders Universe. Never mind on those web codes. In this chapter, each of the portal masters is going to find their lairs, which are in elemental areas. Imagine the elemental area music playing for that portal master when he/she sees their room. If you can't, look up each background music on YouTube.**

**Also, I apoligize if this chapter seems rushed, undetailed, and thrown together. I've been having writer's block this whole time, trying to come up with individual scenes for all of them. So, I apoligize again if the editing I did sucked. I just felt like I needed to get updated today.**

* * *

><p>"YOU INCOMPETENT, INCAPABLE, USELESS SLACKOFF!" Kaos was screaming at Zeke for all the trouble he was in. The dark apprentice was kneeling before his master. "HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY ALLOW THE PORTAL MASTERS TO ESCAPE?!"<p>

"The twister was accelerating beyond Skabb's control master." said Zeke. "I had to escape while I could. There was no time to finish the job. Besides, I did manage to achieve something that will allow us to destroy them." Zeke looked up and snapped his fingers. A door opened behind them. Zeke stood up and led his master to it. Kaos used levitation to fly and stand on the edge of a huge pit. Inside was something he couldn't believe.

A shadowy copy of each and every one of the Skylanders stood below the dark portal masters.

"What?!" Kaos was almost at a loss for words. "But how?"

"During our battle with those portal masters, my Outlanders managed to collect a small skin, hair, blood, or armor sample of each of the Skylanders. I used those samples to clone the Skylanders. That much was simple."

"Brilliant! Well, maybe for once you did something right." Zeke tried not to show his irritation at the comment.

"Thank you master. If you'll excuse me, I should go prepare my Outlanders to secure the Eternal Sources." Zeke bowed and turned to leave, teleporting out.

* * *

><p>Far into a dark part of Skylands, a fortress of pure darkness sat on islands that no longer resembled the ground. Zeke appeared in a huge feasting hall where each of the Outlanders was standing with a small army; Gaul's apes, Steam's robots, Stone Sentinel's golems, Ice King's soldiers armored like him with halberds, Arborick's tree monsters, Vathek's blue reptilian dragonflies, Skabb's pirates, and Occulous' knights.<p>

"Outlanders!" Zeke stepped up to the balcony at the very top of the hall. His shout alerted all the Outlanders, and their armies to his presence. "Feast tonight in celebration of our victory."

"Victory?!" Gaul stabbed the table with his sword, splitting it in half. "You pulled us back before I could claim my revenge on the purple dragon! The Skylanders and portal masters are still a plague to us!"

"Patience Gaul! When the time is right, you will have your revenge! But it will take time to acquire the keys to my plan. If there is no one to oppose Kaos, I cannot gather them freely."

"But why do you continue to obey him? Clearly you are superior! Why do you obey him like a dog?"

"My power has been diminished. I already spent so much restoring you and your hordes. Kaos' power is great. But slowly, little by little, his power is slowly coming to me. Soon, it will be mine. I will be emperor of Skylands. And no one will be able to oppose me."

"Sssssso what? You're going to sssssssssap all of Kaos' power, then kill him?" said Vathek sarcastically.

Zeke smiled. "Precisely."

**Be Prepared; The Lion King**

The entire room grew silent. The Outlanders and their armies stared at their master in disbelief.

**Zeke: **_I never thought Kaos essential  
>He's crude and unspeakably plain<br>But maybe he has a glimmer of potential  
>If allied to my vision and brain<em>

Suddenly, Zeke jumped down from the balcony and landed perfectly on his feet, sparks of dark energy shooting from him in random directions as he walked forward through the crowd.

**Zeke: **_I know that your powers of retention  
>Are as sharp as a turtle's backside <em>(He passed one ape who was chewing on a turkey leg.)  
><em>But thick as you are, pay attention <em>(He smacked the leg away and the ape stood at attention quickly.)  
><em>My words are a matter of pride<em>

_It's clear from your vacant expressions_ (He waves his hand in front of the ape's face.)  
><em>The lights are not all on upstairs<em> (said monkey only responds by sticking his tongue out.)  
><em>But we're talking kings and successions<br>Even you can't be caught unawares_ (He spins around and points to another ape that trips backwards.)

_So prepare for a chance of a lifetime _(He jumps onto a table.)  
><em>Be prepared for sensational news<br>A shining new era _(He starts walking across the table.)  
><em>Is tiptoeing nearer<em>

**Gaul: **_And where do we feature? _(Steps onto the table in front of him.)

**Zeke: **_Just listen to teacher _(Pulls him down by the ear and throws him off the table.)

_I know it sounds sordid  
>But you'll be rewarded <em>(Gaul stands up, rubbing his head.)  
><em>When at last I am given my dues!<br>And injustice deliciously squared _(shoots an ape at the wall.)  
><em>Be prepared! <em>

**Steam: **_Yeah! Be prepared. We'll be prepared! For what?_

**Zeke: **_For the death of the portal masters_

**Vathek: **_Why? Are they sick?_

**Zeke: **(pulls Vathek to him with telekinesis, then throws him back.) _No, you idiot! We're going to kill them. Then we'll take out Kaos._

**Ice King: **_Great idea! Who needs a king?_

**All Outlanders: **_No king, no king! La la la la la!_

**Zeke: **_Idiots! There will be a king!_

**Sentinel: **_But you said..._

**Zeke: **_I will be king! Stick with me and you will be the gods you once were!_

**Gaul: **_Hyah! All right! Long live the king!_

**Outlanders' armies: **_Long live the king!_

_Long live the king! _(scene changes to armies marching below Zeke, standing on his balcony.)

_It's great that we'll soon be connected  
>With a king who'll be all-time adored<em>  
><strong>Zeke:<strong>_ Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected  
>To take certain duties on board <em>(slides his finger across his throat.)

_The future is littered with prizes  
>And though I'm the main addressee<br>The point that I must emphasize is _(jumps down)  
><em>You won't take a step without me! <em>(shoots off random energy bolts, scaring a few monkeys.)

_So prepare for the coup of the century _(Stands on a rising spire)  
><em>Be prepared for the murkiest scam<br>Meticulous planning  
>Tenacity spanning<br>Decades of denial  
>Is simply why I'll<em>

_Be king undisputed _(roof opens)  
><em>Respected, saluted<br>And seen for the god that I am _(lightning bolts shoot across the sky)  
><em>Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared<br>Be prepared!_

**All: **_Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared -_

_Be prepared! _(Zeke, the Outlanders, and their armies start laughing maniacally.)

* * *

><p>"There it is." said Hugo. He pointed towards the bow of the ship. The Mabu evacuation ships had followed the portal masters' airship since their island had been destroyed. They were in full view of the ruins. It was the half blown away shell of a once great temple. They could finally see the various features of the remains of the temple. There was a circle of dirt with a spiral dug into it. That was where the Core of Light was built. As they landed, sixteen torches simultaneously lit around the complex. Each pair lit with a flame that more resembled one of the Skylands elements. In the middle of each matching pair, a circle of light rippled like a lake. Each one held the symbol of a Skylands element.<p>

Aside from the temple itself, a beach sat below the low cliffs of the island, two pirate ships sat docked on stone walkways at the bottom. To the right of that, the beach was a lot bigger. It might have been the perfect place for a hotel. Still on top of the cliff was a train yard, a cliff with a large, dragon-shaped horn on it, and a round mechanical door lying face up on the ground.

The airship touched down as the Portal masters and Skylanders got off. The Skylanders had shrunk themselves down for travel space, and were now at their full sizes again, helping their new portal masters with their luggage. Nearby, more blimps, carrying with them the survivors of the Shattered Island, touched down and started unloading passengers.

"What about the Mabu?" said Skyler.

"They're setting up a settlement for now." said Hugo. Marissa was tempted to go help them out, but she knew they needed to get settled in as soon as possible.

"Your rooms are through those portals. Each of you gets your own sanctuary. It should allow each one of you privacy, while also allowing quick contact in emergencies. Each of them can only be accessed by you. Each lair is in your own Skyland in a pocket dimension, connected to the temple by these gates. We're just lucky they weren't obliterated in the attack." said Hugo.

"Pocket dimension? In that case, mine better not be covered in lint." said Rocky. Tess laughed a little bit, while Ry slapped him upside the head.

"Alrighty then. Where's mine?" said Flynn.

"Flynn, you don't get one. We'll be using those tents." Hugo pointed to the tent next to the temple.

"Yeah right. Forget that. I'll be bunking in style. I tricked out the captain's quarters on my ship." The big-headed Mabu made his way back to his airship.

"Whatever. Portal masters. You should get some rest. We don't have time to waste here. We need to be ready to retrieve each of the necessary components. I'll get started on the preparations while you guys get settled in."

The portal masters and their Skylanders took their luggage through the gates, splitting up for now and going through their respective elemental gates.

* * *

><p>Skyler stepped from the gate to find a bridge made of white ropes suspended over an abyss of clouds. The islands themselves also seemed to be made of clouds covered in plants that looked like they were made of fog. Segmented pillars surrounded the edge. A walkway lined with fine marble pillars, each topped with the symbol of Air stood in front of her at the end of the bridge. At the end, a plaza held a large fountain with four pairs of wings circling it. It stood in front of a large, light blue tent with the spiral symbol on top. All around her, the wind picked up speed rapidly, but it didn't cause her to lose her balance. Although she was curious about the strange blue feathers that occasionally flew past on the currents.<p>

"Wow. This place is amazing!" said Skyler. "Is this what heaven looks like?"

"I don't know, but it's gotta be pretty close to this." said Whirlwind.

Skyler kept going, following the rope bridge to the walkway, finally entering the huge tent. As she went in, she found the room kept the windy décor of the Air element. The bed, pillows included, was basically clouds. There were a couple of clouds with locks on them floating around. There was also a back curtain, leading to a large pool, with what looked like a tube of wind at the bottom, holding water in it. She walked out back and gazed at the entire island.

"Whoa! This is amazing!" She turned around, going back inside, she noticed what looked like a double force field, the layer closest to her baring the symbol of wind, and the outer showing the symbol of fire. "What's that for?"

"You and Ry have adjoining rooms." said Sonic.

"Really?" Skyler looked excited.

"Wait." Whirlwind got a sneaking feeling. "Do you like him?"

"What?! No." Skyler said quickly. "At least not anymore. Ry and I were really close friends growing up. I mean…I did have a crush on him then. We've known each other since kindergarten. But in fifth grade, his dad got arrested and then my mom's pop star career made a comeback so we had to move. I haven't seen him since before last night."

"I think that crush might be coming back." said Sonic.

Skyler looked at her, then shook her head and decided to take a nap in the hammock.

"I think you're right." Whirlwind whispered to Sonic.

* * *

><p>Marissa entered her lair and stared in amazement. She was standing atop a floating glacier. The light rain was mixing with the falling snow as if to keep the island frozen. Snow covered trees were scattered around the island. Strange plants that looked like they all held water covered the island. She stepped lightly across the bridge of ice to reach the walkway ahead on the island. It was lined on both sides with blue pillars, each with a large, blue glass drop at the top. At the end of the walkway was a fountain made of ice in the front of a large igloo with the symbol of water on the fur curtain covering the door.<p>

"This is so cool." said Marissa. "No pun intended."

"I know right?" said Zap. "How do you like the décor from the water element energy?"

"Well, it looks way more like Ice than Water. And ironically, only one of you guys has ice powers."

"Hm…Good point." said Slam Bam.

Marissa walked in the igloo, finding the bedroom of her dreams inside. The walls looked like water was running down them. The back exit led to a pool outside behind the igloo, with a well made from ice next to it. The furniture was all made from ice, except for a bed. It looked like a literal waterbed, as in made of water. She couldn't see anything holding it together. "This is so cool."

"You said that already." said Wham Shell.

"That's how cool it is." She set her bags down on the bed, freaking out when they didn't sink.

"You look like you've never seen magic oh wait." Zap realized she was in an entirely new dimension.

"Well, snow's a bit new to me. It doesn't really snow in Florida. It's always too hot down there. It's too close to the tropics."

"So the whole magic stuff isn't the only thing that's new to you?" Gill Grunt pointed out.

"Pretty much." She looked over and noticed the force field doorway. It had two layers, one with the water symbol on her side, the other with the life symbol outside. "What's that for?" She got up to inspect it.

"Don't ask me why, but Eon decided to give your lairs adjoining rooms." said Zap.

"So I got a room next to Woody?" She asked.

"I guess so. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondered. Why did Eon give me a room next to him?"

"There must be some kind of compatibility with your powers."

"Hm." She looked at it again. "Or maybe it's something else." she muttered.

* * *

><p>Rocky entered his pocket dimension standing on a stone bridge connecting his portal to a large island of sandstone covered in bluish green gems; some small as a quarter, others larger than a car. There were also dozens of y-shaped cacti all over the place. Strange plants with crystals in them also littered the place. At the end of the bridge, two large stone pillars with mountain shaped gems stood before a plaza consisting of a large stone fountain with water that spiraled down its tower in the middle. Behind it was a large mound with the earth symbol carved into it and a cave dug through.<p>

"This place rocks." he said. Prism Break groaned at the pun. "Hey. I couldn't resist."

As he finished crossing the bridge, he went through the plaza, entering the cave into his room. Its walls were lined with gems, lighting the room from all directions. The back of the room had an opening, leading to a pool, and a stone well. The furniture was made from smooth marble, and the bed looked like sand, but felt much smoother and softer. "I've heard of bedrock, but this is ridiculous."

"Why do you keep trying to make jokes? They're not that funny." said Bash.

"Don't know. I just do." he answered.

"Sounds like you're stubborn with that."

"Or firm as a rock." He joked. Then, he looked at the force field in the back of the room. It had two sides, one with his earth symbol, and the other with the tech symbol. "What's that?"

"Eon gave you and Tess adjoining rooms." said Terrafin.

"Any idea why?"

"Not a clue."

* * *

><p>Woody was amazed by his new surroundings. As soon as he stepped onto the tree trunk bridge, he could already see the woods hideout he had just found. Pine trees were growing all over the place, with the occasional moss covered stump, log, rock, as well as the extra leafy plants, many of which he didn't even recognize. Two vine covered pillars, each topped with the symbol of the Life Element, stood in front of a lichen covered fountain with three pools leading down to the base. Behind that, a large tree stood at the back, with a huge tree house above. The staircase had been cut into the base of the tree.<p>

"Sure is woodsy." said Woody.

"You must feel right at home." said Camo.

"Sort of. Except it's a huge improvement. Especially since my dad's not here." Woody finally got across the bridge and went through the plaza into the tree. Going up the stairs, he finally made it to his room. It was amazing how much plant based décor was there. He was just glad there weren't any flowers in it.

The carpet in the room looked like real grass. The windows on the tree bark walls looked like knotholes, especially the balcony overlooking both a pool, a moss covered wooden well, and his own vegetable garden in what was as close to a back yard as possible. There was even a vine woven hammock against the wall, suspended from the ceiling. There were even oversized, hollowed out acorns hanging off the walls. They could be opened to put his stuff inside.

"What was so bad about living with your father?" said Stealth Elf.

"He's the biggest jerk on the planet. If he needed something, he thought he took priority over whatever I was doing first. He probably wouldn't have cared if a friend of mine needed help with an actual life or death situation. He kept making me put family issues ahead of anything else. I kept saving up money to move out, but he kept coming up with family stuff I'd have to spend it on. I had to keep blowing off work whenever he 'needed' me to help with the crops. I couldn't take it anymore. I seriously doubt I'll go home when this is over. I never want to see that jerk again."

Stealth Elf seemed upset, and left the room, going back down the stairs. Woody looked at her with confusion. "What's her problem?" he asked.

"Stealth's an orphan. She never knew her parents." said Stump Smash.

"Aw man!" Woody smacked his face. "I guess I hit a sore spot. Didn't I?" It was then he finally noticed the force field in his room. It had two layers. The one closer to him had the Life symbol on it, while the outer shield had the water symbol.

"What's this?" said Woody as he got up to inspect it.

"For some reason, Eon wanted to give you guys adjoining rooms." said Zook.

"So why'd I get a room next to Marissa?"

"I don't really know." said Camo.

"Well," he looked at the force field again. "I shouldn't complain. I should be happy I got a room next to a pretty girl. At least I didn't get a room next to Ry."

* * *

><p>Tess stepped onto a metal grated bridge with gears turning under it. What she was wasn't an island. It was a floating base. The island was covered in machines and contraptions, not to mention a large number of suspended lanterns hanging from metallic looking trees with no branches. It even had plants made from metal scraps and robot parts. "Are those plants?" she asked.<p>

"Yeah. Eon said that the individual energies of each element affected everything in your lairs, even plant growth." Drobot answered.

"That's amazing." she answered.

Two robot arms, though unmoving, each held up the symbol of the Tech Element at the end of the bridge. In front of what looked like a small fortress with gears on all sides, except for the entrance, was a fountain with three pipes in the ring that circled the water and a large valve with the water coming out on all sides.

"Sweet! I hope this place gets Wi-Fi." said Tess.

"You're miles away from your home planet. I doubt you can get online from here." said Trigger Happy.

"We'll see." she responded. She went into the fortress, heading up stairs to find what looked like a workshop. The dresser had drawers that opened automatically. There was also some kind of work bench with robotic arms, each having a different tool. The bed had a remote next to it, but not for the TV. The bed seemed to have a vibration setting. "Oh yeah. I can get used to this."

"There's still no wifi." said Boomer.

"Yet." Tess replied.

"You're going to put it in?" Trigger asked. "I'd pay to see that."

"You'd be surprised. My sister totaled our dad's car one time. I rebuilt the whole thing from the bottom up in a week. He didn't notice a thing."

"Big deal. I built this whole suit myself." Drobot bragged.

"Really? That's so cool. So that means you're like the dragon version of Iron Man."

"Who?"

"Oh. Sorry. Iron Man's a superhero who built a high tech battlesuit. He used to be a billionaire weapons designer, but an attempt on his life left him with shrapnel heading towards his heart. He had been captured by terrorists, and they gave him an assistant who put an electromagnet in his chest, keeping it out. It was hooked up to a car battery. They needed him alive so he could build them a missile. Instead, he built a new power source for the magnet, based on a reactor he created. It was enough to power the suit he planned to use to escape. After that, he kept improving on the suit whenever he could."

"I guess it does sound a bit like me. But I didn't get any kind of heart condition. I was just scrawny and weak. That's why I built the suit, so I'd finally get respect among the other dragons."

"Looks like it worked." said Tess. Then, she noticed the force field in the doorway at the side of the room. It had two layers. The inner layer had the tech symbol on it, and the outer layer had Rocky's Earth emblem.

"What's that?" she said as she got up to get a closer look.

"For some reason, Eon put in adjoining rooms for you guys. You get the room next to Rocky's I guess."

"What for?"

"Of that, I have no idea." said Drill Sergeant.

* * *

><p>Anyone would be creeped out by Dana's lair, but it was just her style. It basically looked like the Skylands version of the Underworld. A green fog blanketed the entire place. She walked across the bone bridge with skeleton arms supporting it. She went between the two rib pillars with green skulls at the top and looked at all the spooky trees, bone piles, black thorn vines, and spooky plants resembling bones all over the place. The fountain consisted of four small skulls with lit candles on top, and one large skull with ram horns and glowing green eyes, pouring glowing green water into the pool below. Behind that, a gigantic skull with ram horns, glowing eyes, and the undead symbol lay with the mouth open to a staircase within.<p>

"Wow." said Dana.

"Creepy right?" said Chop Chop.

"Well, not to me. I'm really used to this kind of thing." Dana answered. She went into the skull, following the descending staircase into what looked like a cave. But then, the room suddenly lit up. The walls were lined with skulls, lit with candles on top of them. The bed seemed to have a worn out and ancient appearance, as if the owner had died long ago, but under close inspection, it was just a pattern made to look like that. There was a door that led to a glowing green pool and a bone well, also with glowing green water, just outside the room. Near the dresser of rotted out wood, there was a stone chest in the shape of a headstone. She slowly walked into the room, taking in all the disturbing décor.

"So this is what comes with the Undead element? A room that would make anyone think I'm evil?" said Dana. She dropped her bags on the bed and plopped down on it as well.

"It's not that." said Cynder. "Just because you use…darker powers than the others, that doesn't make you evil."

From the way she said it, Dana guessed that Cynder was speaking from experience. That's when she noticed something in the right side of the room. It looked like a force field with her Undead symbol on it. The other side seemed to have the Magic symbol. "What's this?"

"Apparently, you and Max have adjoining rooms." said Hex.

"Really?" Dana seemed to get excited, getting up, and almost running to the force field, as if she wanted to get through it and see him as soon as possible.

"Wait." said Cynder. "You like him don't you?"

Dana shot a "what are you talking about" look at Cynder, then bit her lip, looking nervous.

"Alright. Kind of." She went back over to sit on the bed. "It's just…Other than my stepdad, no one's ever stood up for me like that before. Back home though, it was just because I was the only goth in town. But for this stuff, the other portal masters were about to start calling me evil. I think he's the only one who really trusts me."

"I know how that feels. I actually used to be a dark, evil monster." said Cynder.

"No way!" Dana leaned forward, fascinated. "Really?"

"Well, it's complicated. You see, when I was born, this really evil dragon named Malefor, his soldiers used dark magic to change me into his willing servant. Spyro's the one who set me free from that life, knowing it wasn't my fault, even when I was sure it was. Even now, he's the only Skylander who genuinely trusts me."

"Sounds like you two are really close."

"Yeah. I don't know what I'd do without him."

* * *

><p>Ry stepped from his portal onto a scorched bridge. It was amazing it could still hold him up. It was charred black, still smoldering. Ahead of him, he could see the place covered in scorched trees and lava rocks. There were even thriving plants, which actually looked like they were generating heat. At the end of the bridge, two magma pillars topped with the Ruby Flame emblem marked the entrance to the plaza, which was highlighted by a large lava fountain, with a small tower in the middle and four small spires around the edge. Behind that, a small volcano with an entrance cut into it released smoke into the air, sending small sparks shooting down all over.<p>

"Wow. This is freaky. How am I not burning up here?" said Ry, crossing the bridge while constantly looking down at the charred planks."

"I guess it's because you're more in your element than you've ever been." said Sunburn.

"Very funny." Ry commented on his pun.

He eventually went through the volcano's entrance, going down some stairs into a sort of cave, lit by yellow-flamed torches. The room did its best to maintain the volcano theme. The bed itself looked like it was made of molten lava, but when Ry touched it, it didn't feel any warmer than an electric blanket to him. The floor looked like more solid lava rock, with glowing cracks in between the plates. All the furniture looked scorched like the bridge, but still held structure.

"Not bad. I could get used to this, but I'm guessing there's no AC." Ry commented. His Skylanders looked at him with a "what the heck is that" look. He did a double take, then realized they'd never heard of it. "Air conditioning. It makes the air cooler or hotter when you need it."

Then, Ry noticed the force field with his fire symbol on the inside of the room, and Skyler's air symbol on the other side. "What's that for?"

"From what Eon told me, Eon made each of these lairs so that each room connects to another one." said Sunburn.

"So I got a room next to Skyler?" He asked excitedly.

"Wait a minute. You have a thing for her don't you?" Flameslinger asked.

"Well..." He was a bit embarrassed to say it. "Yeah. She's the only one I've ever known who hasn't given me a hard time about 'being the son of a criminal.' Even my mom kept bringing it up, and she married the guy!"

"So why didn't you go out with her?" Ignitor asked.

"Well, I wanted to, but I was always too scared to mess up any chances with her. And I never had the guts to ask. Then, her mom made her big pop star comeback, and they moved away. I haven't seen her since until earlier."

"Well, maybe this is your chance with her now." said Sunburn.

"I hope so." He looked back at Sunburn, then something confused him. "So are you a dragon or a phoenix or…"

"I'm actually both."

Ry looked shocked. He was at a loss for words. "Your parents must have given you a very disturbing 'the talk.'" He said in response.

* * *

><p>Max clearly had the most amazing living arrangements of everyone. He stepped onto a bridge of pure energy. The island itself was covered in tiled floor and massive purple crystals, not to mention strange glowing plants. Two obelisks at the end had the symbol of the Magic Element, as well as a stone ring, floating above. The plaza's fountain sported three upside down pyramids with water coming from nowhere out the base. A large crystal cavern with a beautifully carved gate decorated with a glowing Magic symbol was behind that.<p>

"It's amazing!" Max said with awe.

"Well, its décor is drawn from the very energy of magic itself." Double replied.

"Did you expect anything less from the leader and most powerful of the portal masters?" Spyro commented.

"I still can't believe it." Max stated as he stepped off the bridge and into the plaza, towards the large crystal cave. "Me, a magician's kid from Las Vegas, the leader of a team of elemental sorcerers. It's…"

"Overwhelming?" Spyro tried to finish.

"Yeah." Max stepped into the cave and up a staircase. At the top, he found a room that looked like it was made for Merlin. The walls had crystal lamps mounted on the sides, with what looked like bright tendrils of magic swirling along the walls themselves. At the end of the room, the circular bed seemed to have a moving pattern of stars flowing from the center of the bed. The opening in back led to a sparkling pool, with a stone pentagonal well, with the bejeweled lid floating above it.

A few stone tile cubes with a light on each face floated around. Max held his hand out to one, and it floated to him. He pressed one of the lights, and the face opened up to reveal that the cube was hollowed out.

"You can put stuff in there. It's for storage." said Voodood.

"Whoa. Sweet." Max started to put his clothes in one of the cubes, but then he noticed a large doorway with two forcefields covering it. Each had a different symbol on it. The inner shield had the magic symbol, whereas the outer shield had the symbol of Undead.

"What's that for?" Max asked.

"For some reason, Eon thought it would be a good idea to give you and the others adjoining rooms. Your's joins to Dana's room." said Spyro.

"Why would he do that?"

"I have no idea. I never did get time to ask him that. But as far as I can tell, it has something to do with each element strengthening, and being strengthened by, another one."

"So why the undead?"

"Not a clue. Maybe among each team of Skylanders, there's a one in each team that's closer friends with a Skylander of another element."

"Well, it kind of makes sense. So who do you think it is for the Magic and Undead elements?"

"Actually, it's me and Cynder. She's my girlfriend."

Max was a bit surprised. "Really? What's the story with you two?"

"That's kind of a long story." Spyro jumped onto the bed to get comfortable. "It starts with me discovering my powers."

"You mean breathing fire?"

"It started with that, but soon, I learned that I could use all four dragon elements, Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Earth."

"So that's why you're in the magic element." Max commented.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the Skygems alerted their Portal Masters to something they needed to take care of. They gathered their Skylanders, leaving their lairs, and heading towards the ruins. Hugo was waiting by Flynn's ship.<p>

"I just got a distress message from an ally of our's. Her name's Cali. She was going to help with your training." he said.

"What happened to her?" Max asked.

"She got captured in Perilous Pastures. We need someone to find her, and bring her back."

"Alright. How do we teleport there?" Dana asked.

"Bad idea. At your level, you could only get to Skylands by combining your energies, and by using power from your Skylanders to help. Besides, 32 Skylanders going all at once will draw too much attention."

"That just leaves one question." said Max. He turned and looked through all the Skylanders. "Which ones should we send?"

* * *

><p><strong>Which Skylanders will go? Leave a comment saying which Skylanders should go. Choose one of each from these elements; Tech, Magic, Water, and Life.<strong>

**I need help with something else. I can't download Skylanders Lost Islands, so I need you guys to send me links to screenshots of everything in the game, labeled. Or just point out which buildings are which if you can.**


	13. A New Ally

**Chapter 12; A New Ally**

**Change of plans guys. I've decided to pick which Skylanders to send based on what's in each location. By the time I settled on the team, you guys kept sending in votes.**

**Anyway, I might need input on a future plot twist involving not only this story, but the rest of the series. Just beware, any advice you give me will require me to give you a major spoiler to understand.**

**One more thing. I've been thinking about this. For the time being, I'm going to skip the rewrites of Giants, Swap Force, and possibly Trap Team. I just feel like it's easier for me to write entire events from scratch rather than adding my own twists to canon events. This way, I can use the crossovers I've gotten ideas for as ways to have my characters find the Giants, Swap Force, Trap Masters, and any other gimmicks added to the Skylanders series in the future.**

* * *

><p>Max looked over the Skylanders around them. "Spyro, Stealth Elf, Slam Bam, and Trigger Happy." The four Skylanders walked into the airship as their names were called.<p>

"Works for me. Let's get going. The sooner we find Cali, the sooner she can thank me for rescuing her." Flynn said, having no idea she wouldn't be interested. Tess just facepalmed. Rocky was about to say something, but Hugo stopped him.

"Just let him have this." Hugo whispered to him. "He's the only pilot I could get to help us." He turned to look at Flynn. "Flynn, take the Skylanders to the Perilous Pastures, but don't get the ship too close until they've located Cali. Once they've secured her, find them and bring them all back here."

"So if I'm doing all the work out there in the field, right in the danger, what will you be doing…other than being useless?" Flynn asked.

"Ignoring that…I'll be searching through the wreckage to see if I can find any clues on how to rebuild the Core of Light."

"Whatever. I'll prep the airship for takeoff." Flynn boarded the airship again, the selected Skylanders following.

"I'll look too." said Cynder. Several of the remaining Skylanders volunteered too.

"I'd help too, but I have a feeling you guys know where to look more than I do." said Max.

"Why don't we see if the Mabu need any help settling in?" said Marissa.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate the help, but I need one of you to watch the portal for progress on the mission…as soon as we find it." Hugo pointed out.

"I'll do it. But I need you to help me find the portal." Max answered.

"We might need Rocky for heavy lifting." Hugo pointed out.

"Alright. I'm on it." the Earth portal master responded.

"No problem." said Hugo.

"Alright. We're off!" Flynn shouted. The airship started to rise.

"Flynn! Keep the airship out of the line of fire, but close enough for Max to keep an eye on the mission!" Hugo shouted back.

"Why does the airship need to be close?" Dana wondered.

"Flynn has a device called a Farspeaker. It will let us talk to him through the portal. The Skylanders don't need one since they're already linked to the portal, which allows them to see what's going on with them."

"Sweet."

Hugo shouted something else to Flynn. "AND IF YOU BRING BACK ANY OF THOSE…THOSE…THOSE SHEEP, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" The airship had already risen high enough to turn around and head towards Perilous pastures.

"What's your problem with sheep?" Skyler asked.

"Do not be fooled by their cuteness! Those creatures are the most evil monsters on the entire planet!" Hugo walked away, shuddering from the conversation. Cynder walked up next to Dana.

"What's his problem?" the Undead portal master whispered to her dragon.

Cynder just looked at Dana and spun one finger of her front left foot around the side of her head, motioning that Hugo was crazy.

* * *

><p>"Ok. 1…2…3!" Rocky, Terrafin, and Prism shoved a massive slab of rubble out of the way. Underneath was a strange structure somewhat resembling a wide well, but it had eight runs cut into the side around it.<p>

"Hey guys! We found something!" Rocky shouted. The portal masters and Hugo came rushing over.

"What is it?" Skyler asked.

"No idea. I was hoping one of you knew."

"It's the Portal of Power." Hugo answered.

"The what?" Max asked in confusion.

"It's what Eon used to send the Skylanders across the world." The genius mabu began examining it. "It looks like the navigation device is missing. It must have been destroyed in the attack. We'll have to locate a new one. In the meantime, we can still use it. But we'll have to track our Skylanders with it for the time being. We'll have to have a Skylander already at the location we want to send something."

"Works for me. But how do we turn it on?" Dana wondered.

"Eon activated it using his magic. Perhaps you guys can jumpstart it using your Skygems." Hugo suggested.

"I guess it's worth a try." Max confirmed.

"You'll each have to stand in front of the rune for your own element. Don't worry. I know which one is which."

As soon as Hugo had guided them into the right positions, they all took out their Skygems and pressed them against the runes; each of which started glowing a different color. The open space inside the circle started to fill with spinning lights. The formation grew rapidly until it filled the space entirely, forming the portal itself.

"Well, we got it activated, but how do we find where our Skylanders are?" Rocky pointed out.

"Our Skylanders are connected to our gems. Maybe they can zero in on each one." Max though. He held the Amethyst Star over the portal and concentrated on finding Spyro. The swirling lights cleared away to show an image of Spyro on Flynn's airship.

"Hey! It works!" Rocky shouted. Suddenly, Trigger Happy could be seen looking around all over the place.

"Who said that?" he said. "I'M NOT HEARING VOICES AGAIN AM I?" He seemed to be freaking out by this point. Tess raised an eyebrow and looked at Hugo.

"Don't ask." the mabu said in advance. He climbed on top of the portal's side to talk to them. "Guys! It's me, Hugo!" he shouted down. "We found the portal so we can talk to you guys now!"

"Oh good. For a minute, I thought I was losing it." Trigger said in relief.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before the airship got close to the origin of Cali's message. Flynn docked the ship as close to the area as possible without getting close enough to be spotted. The four Skylanders got off then looked at Flynn.<p>

"You guys handle the guards. I'll circle around while Kaos' men are distracted to pick up Cali." said Flynn. The obviously cowardly but big headed Mabu got back in his airship and left.

The deployed Skylanders ignored Flynn and his ego, making their way to a nearby bridge that lead to a large gate.

"What now?" Rocky asked from the portal.

"Dude." Max said. "This gate is nothing compared to those Outlanders we fought earlier."

"I got this." Spyro stepped in. He took a position in front of it and took a deep breath.

"What's he doing?" Dana asked.

"Just watch." Hugo stalled. He wanted to see the look on her face when she saw what Spyro was about to do.

The purple dragon took another deep breath, this one bigger than the last, and shot blue fog from his mouth. It coated the lock in ice as he focused the freezing gust on it.

"What's he doing?" Marissa was confused. "I thought Spyro was of the Magic element. How's he shooting ice?"

"Magic's the combined force of the other seven elements." Hugo answered. "I'm sure ice is included in that. Didn't we go over this already?"

"That, and even before he and I were Skylanders, Spyro was a rare dragon with multiple elemental abilities." Cynder pointed out.

Within a matter of seconds, the lock was frozen solid, and more brittle and fragile. "Your turn Trig." Spyro stepped aside and Trigger Happy got into position. He held his hands up in the air, and a golden safe formed above him. Before anyone could ask what he was doing, he threw the safe at the lock, smashing it to open the gate.

Stealth Elf and Trigger Happy pushed open the gate as the safe disappeared.

* * *

><p>Back at the ruins, Marissa looked over at the Mabu settlement. She couldn't do much for the mission, so she went over to help any way she could. Woody noticed and thought he should help too.<p>

"I'm gonna go check on the settlement while you guys keep an eye on the mission." he said as he left.

"They're fine!" Ry shouted over to him.

"He may be thinking along the right lines. I've got this. We really only need one person to keep an eye on the portal and send in more Skylanders if things take a turn for the worst." said Max.

"Are you sure? Don't you think someone should watch out with you?" Skyler asked.

"Nah. You guys could be more help around the new village." Max answered.

"I'll start trying to figure out how to make machines with my powers. We might need a tank, jets, or even a turret around here." Tess pointed out. She went to her room to work on that.

"I might as well take a look around. I should see if we have any good places for turrets." Ry said as he got up and left too.

"I'll go with him." Skyler added before she took off too.

"If you see Woody, tell him to get started on lumber and food supplies. We're not really set up here yet." She didn't seem to hear him.

"I'll start digging around the wreck some more." said Rocky. "We're bound to find something useful. Besides, it'll give me a chance to practice with my Earth powers."

Dana was the only one who stayed with Max. "You're not going to help them out?" he asked.

"I don't think my powers would be much help around here right now." she answered. She decided to change the subject. "So how's the mission coming?" There was a flash in the portal with the sound of an electric shock. The two of them looked at the portal and saw two of Kaos' guards unconscious on the ground. They were green skinned elves known as drow, just like Flameslinger and Stealth Elf, only these guards wore soldier uniforms with bandanas over their faces and carried spears.

"I'd say they're doing fine." Max replied.

Dana looked again. "Hey." She looked at Stealth Elf and then at Flameslinger over with Ry. "Those guards are green elves just like two of our Skylanders."

"They're Drow." said Hugo from behind. "Slinger and Stealth joined the Skylanders before the rest of the Drow joined Kaos. Know one knows what happened or why they joined the dark forces. They used to stand against the darkness."

Max looked at the image, seeing Stealth Elf looking back before moving on with the others. "Let's add that to the mystery list."

"We don't have a 'mystery list.'" Dana pointed out. Max just looked at her with an annoyed frown.

"I'm gonna go start a mystery list."

"Do we even need a mystery list?"

"We might need to know why something happened, and...what's going on down there anyway?" he avoided the question.

* * *

><p>"There it is." said Spyro. He and the field team were crouched at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the prison. There was a turret in front. Near the prison was a small fort with a large plant inside. Every few seconds, a chompy came squirming out.<p>

"That thing could be the source of Kaos' chompy soldiers. Or at least one source." Slam guessed.

"He's right. We have to destroy it." said Stealth Elf.

Max gave the area shown in the portal a quick look around. "I've got it. See that tower on the wall of the chompy fort?" It took the others a second to spot that. From where they were looking, the tower was hidden behind a passing fog. "If you guys can make that tower crash into the plant, it'll no doubt create a diversion to draw the guards away. It'll give Trigger Happy a chance to get close to that turret from behind without triggering it."

"How will that help?" Trigger Happy asked.

"Remember how Hugo told us that we portal masters can send magic through the portals?"

"Yeah."

"He said that those powers we used when we first got our Skygems were jumpstarted by their awakening. There's little chance we can cast spells on our own right now. But if Tess channels her tech powers trough one of her Skylanders onto a machine, it'll be easier to manipulate over a distance. We need the practice anyway."

"That's crazy. What if it doesn't work?" Stealth asked.

"You got a better idea?" Slam pointed out.

Stealth hesitated to say something, then just held it in.

"Thought so."

"Then let's do this." Max started to give directions. "Spyro, fly Slam Bam over to the fort. Slam, you freeze the base at the side pointing at the plant. Trigger Happy, once the tower falls, wait for the guards to run over before you head for the turret and channel Tess's powers to rewire it. Stealth Elf, once the turret starts firing on the fort, sneak into the prison and find Cali. Get her out of there and regroup with the others. Go back the way you came and meet up at Flynn's airship."

"Sounds like a plan." Spyro confirmed.

"I'm in." Stealth Elf agreed.

"Dana, go get Tess. Skylanders, get into position."

* * *

><p>The chompies in the fort were slowly crawling out of the strange plant, sleeping almost as soon as they came out, falling on each other without even noticing. Spyro hovered slowly into the fort, carrying Slam Bam and releasing him right above an empty patch of ground.<p>

"You'd think they'd have guarded this place more." said Slam Bam.

"Is Kaos really this stupid?" Spyro commented. "Just freeze the base of the tower. I'll go back up and build more momentum to knock it down." Spyro flew back into the air, spiraling as he climbed higher and higher.

"Is anyone else thinking this is way too easy?" Tess asked.

"Well, we don't have time to complain about how easy this is." Dana replied.

"She's right. Right now, we have to take risks, and if we need to send in backup, we will." Max commented.

"I'm just gonna freeze the tower to end this conversation." Slam interjected. He approached the tower, stepping carefully to assure he wouldn't wake the chompies. He raised his fists, all four of them, into the air, then slammed them on the ground, creating a rapidly extending trail of ice that instantly froze the base of the tower. The sound of the ice forming was enough to cause some Chompies to stir, but Slam was already putting some distance between him and the tower.

Spyro had climbed as high as he was going to get. He dove towards the tower, gathering speed like a living arrow. When he saw his window of opportunity, he rolled into a ball mid flight, and formed a spiked boulder around himself, hurdling towards the frozen target. The stone shielded him from the impact, which shattered the tower right at the base. Just as planned, the tower slowly leaned over, towards the chompy-making plant, and squashed it like a bug.

Just when they thought the plan was going perfectly, the few chompies that were lucky enough not to get squashed started shrieking. Each one was loud enough to count for a school's fire alarm. Imagine about a couple dozen at once. Slam had to cover his ears, and so did Spyro after he dug himself out of the rubble. Even the portal masters overlooking the scene had to cover their ears.

"OH YEAH! BRILLIANT IDEA!" Tess screamed over the noise.

"LIKE I HAD ANY IDEA THEY COULD DO THAT?!" Max shouted back.

Spyro had to tough out the noise and shoot fireballs at each chompy one by one, just to lower the noise. Then, Slam Bam used his two free hands to freeze the rest, freeing his third and fourth hand to smash the plantsicles.

Spyro uncovered his ears, sticking his finger in each as if to dig something out. "Well, that could have gone worse." Slam looked at him as if he was confused.

"WHAT?!" he shouted. His hearing was clearly not working right at the moment.

"Alright. Note to self. Let sleeping plant monsters lie." said Rocky. He had come over there just to comment on that.

"Get back to what you were doing!" shouted Max. Rocky threw up his hands and walked away. Max sighed and turned back to the portal, but noticed that Tess was giggling silently.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing." she said as she tried to look unamused, but failed. She couldn't stop smiling after that joke.

In no time, a few Drow soldiers had reached the remains of the fortress. "Intruders! Get them!" Dozens more Drow charged into the wreckage.

"Looks like we've got a fight on our hands after all." said Spyro.

"WHAT?! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO BITE OUR HAMS! WE HAVE TO FIGHT THOSE DROW!" Slam still couldn't hear, but at least he was fighting. Max just facepalmed.

"Can't those two keep anything quiet?"Stealth Elf said to herself as she watched the fighting from there. "And what's taking Trigger Happy so long?"

Trigger was waiting for the turret operators to leave the gun too, for whatever stupid reasons they did, then ran over and put both hands on the cannon.

"Alright Tess, you're on." Max pointed to the Tech Portal Master. She nodded, then took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts and energy. She held both her hands over the portal, palms down, gear-shaped holographic displays forming around her hands. Her eyes glowed yellow as beams of numbers blasted from her hands. On the other side of the portal, the same beam shot down from the sky, bathing the turret in light.

"Link established." Tess started to talk like a robot. "Removing registered users...Overwriting...Tech Skylander, Trigger Happy, now recognized as user." Tess broke the link, ending the light show and almost collapsing from exhaustion. She barely held herself up long enough for Dana to catch her and help her stand up.

"Are you alright?" Dana asked.

"Yeah." Tess answered. though she clearly was still out of breath, she seemed to be recovering from such an exhausting display of power. "No worse than when we teleported here. But I think I need to practice a bit before doing that again."

"Alright Trig, you're up. Spyro, you and Slam get out of there. Stealth, when you see the canon fire on the door, go." Max called to the Skylanders to move into action.

Trigger Happy climbed up the turret, opening the door, then shooting the operators inside. Jumping down, he closed the door as yellow energy, similar to the kind Tess used to override the turret, flowed through it. The Skylander inside aimed the turret at the front door of the prison, then fired, blowing the entrance to smithereens. Some of the guards ran outside the prison like crazy, but Stealth Elf took her cue and turned invisible to sneak past them.

* * *

><p>Once inside, Stealth Elf cut the...uh...stealth, and looked at each cell for Cali. She soon found a female Mabu wearing some sort of green soldier uniform.<p>

"Cali" Stealth whispered. The mabu, now known as Cali, looked up from where she was sitting, starting to stand up.

"Stealth Elf!" Cali scrambled to get up and grabbed the bars of the cell. "I'm so glad to see you here. How'd you get past the...nevermind."

"We'll explain on the way. Right now, I need to get you out of here so we can meet up with Flynn and get back to the ruins. We need your help training the new Portal Masters."

Cali looked shocked. "New Portal Masters? Does that mean Eon...?" Stealth Elf didn't answer, but just hung her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I see. Let's just get out of here."

"Right." Stealth quickly got her head back in the game, beginning to pick the lock with her dagger. It didn't take long, but the bone tusk actually broke the lock off. "Oops."

"Not our problem." Cali said as she swung open the door. "Let's just go." Stealth Elf followed as Cali ran for the exit.

* * *

><p>Trigger Happy was new providing covering fire for Spyro and Slam Ban as they fell back towards the turret. Spyro shot his pursuers with fireballs while Slam shot ice shards at them. Flynn's airship was en route, landing for the skylanders to board. As Spyro and Slam boarded the blimp, Trigger put his hands on the turret's console, channeling Tess's powers to put a transmitter on it, allowing Tess herself to control it from there long enough to get away. Trigger jumped out as the turret now appeared to be firing itself at the pursuing Drow.<p>

Stealth Elf and Cali had just escaped the prison. Trigger started to give them cover fire with his own guns as they all ran towards the blimp.

"Flynn! Go!" Spyro yelled.

"Anchors away!" Flynn shouted as they all took off. The Drow archers all fired every arrow they had at the blimp, attempting to make the whole thing crash into the ground, but with no success. The Skylanders had won this round.

* * *

><p>"Well, you're safe now Cali. You're welcome." Flynn gloated, even though he did almost nothing.<p>

"Uh...Thanks." Cali turned to Stealth Elf, obviously trying to ignore Flynn as much as possible. "You said something about the new Portal Masters, right?"

"Yeah." the ninja replied. "They've only recently arrived in Skylands and need training to get the hang of their powers."

"I think I can figure that out. They probably just need to hone their fighting abilities."

"That's good." Spyro added in. "Because Kaos has his own apprentice Portal Master now, plus his answer to us Skylanders. He calls them the Outlanders. The worst part, they're some of our worst enemies ever."

"Where did Kaos get these guys?"

"I don't know, but as much as I don't want to know, I'm worried we'll need to find out very soon."

* * *

><p>"They're on their way back!" Max shouted to Hugo. He couldn't help but smile, knowing their latest mission was a success. Hugo was digging through the wreckage when he heard.<p>

"Perfect. We'll need Cali to..."

"Guys! Look at this!" Rocky called. He had just moved a large slab of rubble when he found something else. Max and Hugo ran over, hoping he wasn't pulling a joke. Luckily, this was a real discovery. Rocky had found a large, round, bronze door, with skylands runes on it, laying on, or in, the ground. It resembled a sewer lid, but the others hoped Rocky wouldn't notice it.

"What is that?" Max wondered.

"By the Elementals! It's Eon's Volcanic Vault!" Hugo looked more excited than ever.

"That's good right?" Rocky asked. Max facepalmed, knowing an obvious answer.

"It's better than good! This vault contains Eon's collection of magical weapons and artifacts from across Skylands."

"Well, go get the others. We've gotta get in there and see what Eon collected!" Max shouted to Hugo. The mabu agreeably ran off, anxious to crack open the vault and retrieve the artifacts inside.

Max stayed behind, eying the sealed door. "We're gonna need every advantage we can get."

* * *

><p><strong>Finally! Sorry this update took so long guys. I've just been really busy with graduating from college, my new job, and starting to join RP forums again. Anyway, I'm going to start planning chapter 13 within the next few days.<strong>


	14. What now?

**Chapter 13; What now?**

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys. Sorry these updates take so long. I just get busy with other stuff alot. Since there seems to be so much demand to update, I'm going to have to make more chapters. And they'll probably be shorter.<strong>

**Anyway, if you guys are wondering about the crossovers I'm going to do, I already plan on doing crossovers of Jackie Chan Adventures for Giants, Huntik for Trap Team, Yugioh (not sure how) for the final crossover before the final story. But I need help deciding on the crossover for Swap Force. Also, if you guys have heard of the new Light and Dark Elements, yeah, I have every intention of putting those into this fanfic series. But I'm trying to decide between having a portal master for each element, or just using one portal master for both since they're mini-elements, and three possible portal masters. But knowledge of the candidates, if requested by anyone, will require you to have a major spoiler as to the main plot. Other crossovers I have ideas for are Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Star Wars, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter, maybe Soul Eater (You'll find out why during Stormy Stronghold), and Magi-Nation, though if I do the last one, I need a web site where I can watch all the episodes of the show. And to the reviewer who wondered what the portal masters would be like as Pokemon gym leaders, sorry, no Pokemon crossovers. These crossovers will be part of the main storyline, so I will try and explain the crossover part as best as I can each time for anyone not familiar with what I'm crossing it over with.**

**One more thing. Whoever keeps posting reviews that just say "POST THE NEXT CHAPTER! POST THE NEXT CHAPTER! POST THE NEXT CHAPTER!", SHUT UP! I'm going as fast as I can, dealing with writer's block, and adjusting to my first job, trying to get to a point where I can get a new one. So back off! I'll update when I can!**

* * *

><p>"Alright. Let's see if this works as a key like I think it will." said Max. He held his Amethyst Star over the circular door to the vault. The runes on the door lit up as the inner circle started to turn clockwise, while the outer circle turned the opposite direction. When the two circles had turned completely around, a mechanical clanging was heard. A small cloud of dust shot up from the edges of the door, as it began to crack open. Rocky waved in front of his face while coughing. The side closer to Max started to rise from the ground, the hinge showing on the opposite end from underneath.<p>

"I guess Master Eon hasn't even opened this vault in about three years." Hugo guessed.

About a second after he said that, the door stopped rising, the runes blinked out, and the whole door just dropped with a resounding clang that Rocky could have sworn made his ears start ringing. The drop also kicked up another cloud of dust, this time a bigger one, sending everyone into a coughing fit.

Warnado saw the mishap, then his feet lifted off the ground, but he didn't fall. The air-powered turtle started spinning in the air, faster and faster, until he formed a miniature tornado. He then shot forward and stopped right in the middle of the dust cloud. The micro-vortex acted as a vacuum to get rid of the dust. Warnado then shot away again, to throw out the dust cloud.

"How long has Eon had that thing?" Max asked. He was dying to know how that thing was so dusty.

"I think a couple thousand years." Hugo answered.

Max stopped, looked around, and said "O...kay then." He didn't know what to think other than that Eon had an extremely long lifespan, then wondered if he and the other new portal masters would live that long too.

"No telling how much dust is in this vault." Rocky pointed out.

"We should probably set up a new one when we get a chance. This one just won't cut it." Max suggested.

"Good idea." Tess answered. "In the meantime, I'll go find Drill Sergeant and ask if he can cut this door off." She left to go find the robot.

"In the meantime, we've got company." Skylar interupted from watching the portal. The airship and team of Skylanders were on final approach to the island.

* * *

><p>"By the Primordials!" Cali said to herself as soon as she saw what remained of Eon's palace, and the settlements that were now under construction.<p>

"The Shattered Islands are now...well...shattered, and the mabu now have to call the palace island home." Spyro explained.

"What could have done that?"

"It was the Outlanders, a group of eight warlords led by an apprentice portal master trained by Kaos himself. Most of them are former enemies of mine."

"I can't believe this."

"That's not the worst part."

"What is?"

"They're supposed to be dead."

Cali's eyes widened. She had no idea how to respond to that, not that she wanted to. She changed the subject before Flynn tried to flirt with her again. "We're almost there. So tell me about these new portal masters."

"You'll meet them soon enough. They haven't quite gotten the hang of their powers just yet."

"I actually have a solution for that. I found something while in Perilous Pastures. It's what Kaos' forces wanted me for. I'll tell you what it is when we get down there."

* * *

><p>Max had rounded up the other portal masters, with their skylanders in tow, and they were all waiting for the airship to land. But the group got an unexpected surprise. The airship had taken a considerable amount of damage during their escape. Fire arrows hadn't pierced clean through the gas bag, but they had worn it extremely thin where they hit. It was a miracle there hadn't been any leaks on the way back. And the ship's build itself had scorch marks, arrowholes, and enough damage to be a surprise it hadn't crashed before arriving.<p>

"What happened to the ship?" Skylar asked Flynn on his way out.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I am a master pilot. There was absolutely no trouble getting Cali baaaaaaaa..." Flynn trailed off as soon as he looked up to see the damage to the ship. "Wow. Those Drow are better archers than I thought."

"No argument there." Flameslinger commented, being a Drow archer himself.

"Well, there's no way this thing wil survive another trip." Skylar observed.

"What are ya talkin' about?" Flynn asked, picking up a pebble, tossing it up a bit twice in his hand. "This baby is one of the strongest airships I've ever seen." He threw the pebble up to prove a point, but it hit one of the weakened parts, popped a hole in it, and started to cause a slow leak, that started to cause the airbag to pull itself apart at the seams, dropping huge pieces of the blimp onto the ground.

"Oooooookay. Maybe my old hot air balloon can get the job done for a while." Flynn walked off, probably to put it back together.

"Anyway, while he's doing that, I need some help getting the Far Viewer working again." Hugo requested.

"The what now?" Rocky asked.

"Oh right. It's a special telescope Eon invented. It allows the user to see what's happening anywhere in Skylands."

"Whoa! Sweet!"

"What's wrong with it?" Dana asked.

"Eon hasn't used it since he figured out the Portal of Power can show you what's happening with the Skylanders anyway. Now's it's covered and tangled in a jungle of vines and weeds. I can't get to it myself. I need Woody and Ry for this."

"Why them?" Marissa asked. "Can't someone else help you?"

"I can do it myself. I can control plant life, so I can just pull the vines off." Woody pointed out.

"And they'll just grow back over the telescope. I can just burn through the stringy mess." Ry responded.

"You might damage the Far Viewer that way. That's why I need you both at once. Woody can pull the vines off the Far Viewer, and Ry can burn them to keep them off."

"Alright then."Woody followed."

"Lead the way farm boy." Ry wisecracked, resulting in a death glare from Woody.

Max waited until they were out of earshot to comment. "Maybe this is some kind of team building thing." Then, he looked at Cali. "So why were Kaos' forces after you anyway?"

"This." Cali took a strange object out of her bag. Somehow, it looked a bit too big to fit in it, yet the item just squeezed right through the opening. It resembled an iron sheep with ruby eyes, and an engraved pot for the fleece. "It's the Pot of Trials." The others looked at the Pot, but Rocky and Tess seemed fascinated by Cali's "bigger on the inside" bag.

* * *

><p>"Alright. Woody, pull them apart." Hugo hadn't been kidding about the device being buried in weeds. At the edge of the cliff on the island, one with a stone fence around it, held a strange object in the middle of the barrier. Unfortunately, years of unuse left a huge overgrowth to tangle whatever mechanism enabled the strange telescope.<p>

Woody stood in front of the giant bramble, his Emerald Leaf glowing, and his hands emitting the ethereal leaves, like when he first discovered his powers. Holding both his hands out, he tryed to connect his energy to the bramble. The large, brown vines started to become coated in a similar green energy, traveling up from the roots along the lengths of the vines. Spreading his hands, Woody split the entire bramble in half, revealing the Far Viewer. In its current state, it just looked like a stone disk on the ground with a four-pointed star on top of it. A couple of vines remained entangled under the disk, but soon popped out and slipped into the rest of the bush.

"Ok now. Ry, you're up." The portal master of fire stepped up to the bramble, making his Ruby Flame glow while his hands began to emit red flames. Putting his hands together in front of him, he pulled them to his side, keeping them barely spaced apart as a fireball began to form between them. For the first part, it would have looked like the Kamehameha from Dragon Ball Z, but then, he pulled each of his arms to a different side, splitting the fireball in two, then thrust each hand towards a different half of the bramble, unleashing twin streams of fire that quickly incinerated the bramble, turning it to ashes.

Woody lowered his hands, almost collapsing to his knees as he released the energy. "Well..." he said, out of breath. "That was..harder than...I thought...it would be."

As Ry's flames extinguished, he fell backwards, landing on his butt. "You...said it...farm boy." Rocky ignored the nickname this time, being too distracted by how fast the vines turned to ashes.

"Excellent." Hugo rejoiced. He immediately pulled up the disk, revealing a metallic base underneath. He started to pull a screwdriver out of his bag and began tinkering with the device. "It'll take me a while to get the Far Viewer back into working condition, maybe all night. In the meantime, you and the others do whatever. I'll use the portal to signal your Skygems when I'm ready."

"Didn't think shooting fire would be so tiring." Ry commented.

"You'll get used to these elemental powers. They'll get easier as you train with Cali." Hugo told them.

"How? Does she have elemental powers too?" Woody asked.

"Well, no. There aren't any set-in-stone techniques to using your powers. But Cali found a type of magic called Heroic Challenge. It creates timed challenges in pocket dimension arenas."

* * *

><p>"Whoa! Sweet!" Tess exclaimed. Cali had explained the Heroic Challenge magic to the others as well. "We could play Grand Theft Auto for real!"<p>

"Not quite, whatever that is." Cali corrected. "Whatever is in the arena is limited to the caster's knowledge of everything that makes up the challenge. So right now, we'll be limited to creating challenges using locations, as well as enemies, from Skylands. Max's element is magic itself, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to learn it, but right now, we have to stick to Skylands to put together our challenges."

"But the rest of us don't know enough about Skylands to build the arenas." Dana pointed out.

"Well, our Skylanders do. They can each write down a challenge, and its conditions, then Cali can make the challenges." Max suggested.

"Perfect. The Pot of Trials actually creates the challenges from written conditions. I'll round up the Skylanders. You guys should take a look around the mabu settlement. Make sure everyone's settling in ok." Cali recommended.

Suddenly, Max's phone went off, playing the door opening sound from the Legend of Zelda games. He took it out of his pocket. "How am I getting cell phone service in another dimension?" He did a double take. "And wifi?"

"You're welcome." Tess smirked. Max was speechless, but didn't looked shocked.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you did that so fast." Max just checked his message. "I gotta go."

"Wait. Who is it?" Skylar asked.

"It's Amber, my girlfriend. She wants me to get on Skype with her when I get a chance."

Dana would have done a spit take if she had a drink in her hand. "Your who now?!" she suddenly blurted out, shocked. Then, she did a double take, looking around and notice the others were staring at her because of her reaction. "I mean...I gotta go too...so bye." She ran off to her lair, hiding out until the others hopefully forgot her outburst. Heading to her room, she sat down on the bed. Then, with a groan of frustration, quickly laid down on it.

Back outside, Max seemed confused. "What's her...Nevermind." Shaking his head and heading to his own lair, he muttered under his breath. "Girls."

Skylar facepalmed as Tess shook her head as well. "Boys." they both mumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if this chapter seemed rushed and too short guys. I just really felt like I was overdue for an update, especially with Christmas. If future chapters seemed rushed and too short as well, it's because I'm trying to keep you guys updated as often as possible from now on. Something tells me the crossovers will be easier since reworking pre-written events is harder than starting from scratch. It's taking longer to write my character swap of Yugioh and Huntik.<strong>


	15. Hiatus

Hey guys. Thank you all for reading this story and your encouragements to keep going, but I feel like I can't do anything with this story right now. Until I can get a handle on this story, sort it out in my head, and get motivated to work on it again, I'm putting it on hiatus. I feel like I have to force myself just to look at the documents for it on my laptop. No matter how hard I try, I just can't bring myself to do anything to it right now. And if the Skylanders games keep releasing a new one every year, I will definitely end the fan series at story five. And I've decided not to write the Skylanders Origins story.


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